From The Wit and Humor of America, edited by Marshall P. Wilder, Volume IV, New York and London: Funk and Wagnalls and Company, 1911; pp. 711-712.

AN APRIL ARIA

BY R. K. MUNKITTRICK

Now, in the shimmer and sheen that dance on the leaf of
              the lily.
Causing the bud to explode, and gilding the poodle’s chin-
              chilla,
Gladys cavorts with the rake, and hitches the string to
              the lattice,
While with the trowel she digs, and gladdens the heart of
              the shanghai.


Now, while the vine twists about the ribs of the cast-iron
              Pallas,
And, on the zephyr afloat, the halcyon soul of the borax
Blends with the scent of the soap, the brush of the white-
              washer’s flying
E’en as the chicken-hawk flies when ready to light on its
              quarry.


Out in the leaf-dappled wood the dainty hepatica’s blow-
              ing,
While the fiend hammers the rug from Ispahan, Lynn, or
              Woonsocket,
And the grim furnace is out, and over the ash heap and
              bottles
Capers the “Billy” in glee, becanning his innermost Billy.

712
Now the blue pill is on tap, and likewise the sarsaparilla,
And on the fence and the barn, quite worthy of S. Botti-
              celli,
Frisk the lithe leopard and gnu, in malachite, purple, and
              crimson,
That we may know at a glance the circus is out on the
              rampage.


Put then the flannels away and trot out the old linen
              duster,
Pack the bob-sled in the barn, and bring forth the baseball
              and racket,
For the spry Spring is on deck, performing her roseate
              breakdown
Unto the tune of the van that rattles and bangs on the cobbles.