From The Canadian Birthday Book, edited by Susan Frances Harrison (“Seranus”): An excerpt of poetry by Ethelwyn Wetherald

Wetherald, A. Ethelwyn. [Entries for March 29 and 30]. Canadian Birthday Book. Ed. Seranus [Susan Frances Harrison]. Toronto: Robinson, 1887.

A poem by Frances Rye

Rye, Frances. [Entry for March 20]. Canadian Birthday Book. Ed. Seranus [Susan Frances Harrison]. Toronto: Robinson, 1887.

“March Waking,” by J. Elizabeth Gostwycke Roberts

Roberts, J. Elizabeth Gostuycke [sic]. “March Waking.” Bedford’s Magazine 6 (March 1891): 601.

March Waking

Before the dawn, when birds crouch close together,
   A soundless silvery stir the silence breaks;
So through the grayness of this mid-march weather
          Something wakes.

No green has sprung between the withered grasses,
   No blossom stars the roadside’s mossy miles,
Yet from the fields the frozen bareness passes;
          Something smiles.

Not yet, not yet, the time of song’s full cheering;
   Expectant silence all my heart enthralls;
Out of the woods and through the lonely clearing,
          Something calls.