April Showers

I have often wondered where a line from a poem came from. I never, since I heard my grandmother speak the line, have I heard the complete poem, or even heard the name of the poet. (Or even heard it repeated word for word correctly):

Ne’er forget that April showers

Bring the fragrant spring-time flowers.

So popular even worldwide, I am amazed I could not find the poem online. I guess I must hoen my Bing and Google skills, I thought they knew everything, those Bing and Google guys, NOT! So guess what? I found it myself, on my shelf in a delapidated garage sale copy of the Soper School of Oratory (1877 “Eloquence — Is — Power”) The Speakers Friend. So for those of you without ADD, or the attention span of an 8 year old, (twitter length being the max bite of info they can absorbe in one sitting) here is the whole lovely lecture on the necessity of rain….

April Showers

By Mrs. L.D. Avery-Stuttle 

From the South came April, fair,

Wreaths of crocus in her hair,

Robed in dress of brown and green,

Like a fairy, Orient queen. 

From the North, with cheeks aglow,

Clad in robes of fleecy snow,

Boisterous March came puffing by

Neathe the gray and cloud-wrapped sky. 

April, smiling, greeted him,

Then at once her eyes were dim –

Fickle she, as well as fair-

Then she tossed her glorious hair,

Wept and smiled, and wept again,

Breathing soft o’er hill and glen.

Wherefore, April, dost thou weep?

See! The flowerets spring from sleep:

Hark! The wood begins to ring

With the melody of spring:

Nature doth not always sleep-

Wherefore, April, dost thou weep? 

“If I weep not,” April cries

Glancing up with starry eyes,

“Fragrant blossoms would not spring,

Pretty birdlings would not sing:

I must smile, and I must weep

Till the flowerets wake from sleep

Till the cold earth, brown and sere,

Feels each warm and humid tear,

And the rootlets, one by one,

Stir to greet the beaming sun.”

The Speakers Friend

Brother, when within life’s skies,

Winds and clouds and storms arise,

Ne’er forget that April showers

Bring the fragrant spring-time flowers.

April 12, 2010 | Categories: Bay View, Dawn over San Diego Bay, Flowers, Photography, San Diego California Sunrise | Tags: April Showers Poem, Mrs. L.D. Avery-Stuttle Poet, Rain Showers in San Diego | Leave a comment