Lydia

Lizette Woodworth Reese

Break forth, break forth, O Sudbury town,
  And bid your yards be gay
Up all your gusty streets and down,
  For Lydia comes to-day!

I hear it on the wharves below;
  And if I buy or sell,
The good folk as they churchward go
  Have only this to tell.

My mother, just for love of her,
  Unlocks her carvëd drawers;
And springs of withered lavender
  Drop down upon the floors.

For Lydia’s bed must have the sheet
  Spun out of linen sheer,
And Lydia’s room be passing sweet
  With odors of last year.

The violet flags are out once more
  In lanes salt with the sea;
The thorn-bush at Saint Martin’s door
  Grows white for such as she.

So, Sudbury, bid your gardens blow,
  For Lydia comes to-day;
Of all the words that I do know,
  I have but this to say.

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