The Shepherd's Calendar - April

Along each hedge and sprouting bush

   The singing birds are blest,

And linnet green and speckled thrush

   Prepare their mossy nest;

On the warm bed thy plains supply,

   The young lambs find repose,

And ’mid thy green hills basking lie

   Like spots of ling’ring snows.                                     

Thy open’d leaves and ripen’d buds

   The cuckoo makes his choice,

And shepherds in thy greening woods

   First hear his cheering voice:

And to thy ripen’d blooming bowers

   The nightingale belongs;

And, singing to thy parting hours,

   Keeps night awake with songs!

With thee the swallow dares to come,

   And cool his sultry wing;                                           

And, urged to seek his yearly home,

               Thy suns the martin bring.

There are several excerpts from John Clare's lovely poem ' The Shepherd's Calendar ' on my blog but there are still several months missing so here is another one for the collection. The photographs were taken in the last couple of days, the bluebell one isn't very good but it shows how wonderful they are this year. Gillfield Wood is only a short distance from where I live but not many people go there as the big draw locally for bluebells is Ecclesall Woods. A great many people locally don't even know that Gillfield Wood exists but the bluebells are actually even better here I think. They aren't quite in full bloom yet but in another few days they will be fantastic. Already their scent is drifting through the woodland accompanied by the the singing of the birds and the bleating of the lambs in the fields that run along the edges - it's a beautiful place to walk in the springtime.