On My Mother's Birthday
Clad in all their brightest green,
This day verdant fields are seen;
The tuneful birds begin their lay,
To celebrate thy natal day.
The breeze is still, the sea is calm
And the whole scene combines to charm;
The flowers revive this charming May,
Because it is thy natal day.
The sky is blue, the day serene,
And only pleasure now is seen;
The rose, the pink, the tulip gay,
Combine to bless thy natal day.
From the collected Poems of Mrs Hemans, William Blackwood and Sons, 1849.This is (I believe) the oldest surviving poem by Mrs Hemans, or Felicia Dorothea Browne as she then was, written at the age of 8 !
