A Walk in Spring Lyrics
A child walks out in spring and lists what is happy about it: the bright sun, singing birds, green grass, playing lambs, flowers, jumping fish, a singing lark and busy rooks.
A Walk in Spring
I'm very glad the spring is come: the sun shines out so bright,
The little birds upon the trees are singing for delight;
The young grass looks so fresh and green, the lambs do sport and play,
And I can skip and run about as merrily as they.
I like to see the daisy and the buttercups once more,
The primrose and the cowslip, too, and every pretty flower:
I like to see the butterfly extend her painted wing,
And all things seem, just like myself, so pleased to see the spring.
The fishes in the little brook are jumping up so high,
The lark is singing sweetly as she mounts into the sky;
The rooks are building up their nests upon the great oak-tree,
And everything's as busy and as happy as can be.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/a-walk-in-spring/
- Type
- Poems for Children
- Tune
- Cheerful and brisk, with a skip in the long lines
- Best for ages
- 4 to 8 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| And I can skip and run about as merrily as they | Skip on the spot. |
| The lark is singing sweetly as she mounts into the sky | Lift your hand slowly up while whistling softly. |
What Does A Walk in Spring Mean?
The poem is a list of springtime pleasures, each seen on a walk. The first verse has the sun, the singing birds, the fresh green grass and the lambs that "sport and play", which means they play. The second names the flowers, the daisy and buttercups, the primrose and the cowslip, which are all common wildflowers of spring, and a butterfly that stretches its "painted wing". The third has fish jumping in a brook, a lark that sings as it climbs into the sky, and rooks, black birds of the crow family that build their nests together in tall trees.
The lines are long, so they are best read at a walking pace, the way the child in the poem skips along. The book prints one more verse after these three, which is left out here.
History and Origin
The poem is in Songs for the Little Ones at Home, a collection first published in 1884 and revised in 1911. The book gives no author for it.
Learning Activities
- Spring spotting: go out and tick off what you can see from the poem: grass, flowers, birds, a cloud-free sky.
- Listen for the lark: if you have a recording of a skylark, play it and notice how long the song goes on.
- Nest watch: look at the tops of tall trees for nests and talk about which birds build them.
- Skip and run: go outdoors and skip while saying the fourth line.