May

Happy the hour
And gladsome the day
When youth was a flower
In the noontide of May
Green were the meadows
And azure the sky
Dreaming in shadows
Of willow and pine

Sweet was the morning
Forever the day
Heedless of warning
That youth slips away
Fairer its blush
Than the grapes on the vine
Purer the flush
Than the yellow sunshine

Happy the hour
But happier they
Who still have the power
When youth slips away
To live in September
Or November gray
With the joy they remember
In the noontide of May

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Janet Martin