Nature

May Day

by Sara Teasdale 1884–1933

From Flame and Shadow (1920)

Nature

A delicate fabric of bird song
Floats in the air,
The smell of wet wild earth
Is everywhere.

Red small leaves of the maple
Are clenched like a hand,
Like girls at their first communion
The pear trees stand.

Oh I must pass nothing by
Without loving it much,
The raindrop try with my lips,
The grass with my touch;

For how can I be sure
I shall see again
The world on the first of May
Shining after the rain?

MLA

Teasdale, Sara. “May Day.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/teasdale/241/.

Chicago

Teasdale, Sara. “May Day.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/teasdale/241/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

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