Poem for Monday and DC in Spring

The Echoing Green
By William Blake

The Sun does arise,
And make happy the skies;
The merry bells ring
To welcome the Spring;
The skylark and thrush,
The birds of the bush,
Sing lounder around
To the bells' chearful sound,
While our sports shall be seen
On the Echoing Green.

Old John, with white hair,
Does laugh away care,
Sitting under the oak,
Among the old folk.
They laugh at our play,
And soon they all say:
"Such, such were the joys
When we all, girls & boys,
In our youth time were seen
On the Echoing Green."

Till the little ones, weary,
No more can be merry;
The sun does descend,
And our sports have on end.
Round the laps of their mothers
Many sisters and brothers,
Like birds in their nest,
Are ready for rest,
And sports no more seen
On the darkening Green.

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Quickie because we spent all afternoon downtown with the lovely Annmarie on a lovely day with lovely flowers all around and inside the National Mall! We met at the Museum of Natural History, where we went to see the orchid exhibit, then we walked all around the green between the museums (currently torn up in the first stage of renovations) to the gardens behind the Smithsonian Castle and next to the US Botanic Garden, which we also visited briefly. After that we crossed in front of the Capitol (whose dome is under construction as well) to visit the National Gallery of Art, where we saw the Rubens Magi, the Piero di Cosimo exhibit, and the Corcoran highlights now on display there.

















We were all a bit fried from our exertions the day before (we merely schlepped around Richmond in the rain, but Annmarie participated in an after-dark 5k), so we came home for dinner. Then we watched Madam Secretary, which is so much better than Once Upon a Time that the latter has been consigned to On Demand viewing, and caught up on Outlander, which I am still not liking nearly as much as the first half-season (yes, it was a violent age, but the maimed and bloody skin porn is nauseating). The Nationals did not have a good day, but the Orioles beat the Red Sox 18-7 and the Wizards swept the Raptors to advance in the NBA playoffs, so it must be considered a good sports day.