George Tracy Marsh

“ With May the buds of birch and poplar began to swell, later to lighten with the soft green of their young leaves the somber reaches of upland jack pine and spruce. At dawn now, from dripping spires, whitethroat and hermit thrush, fleeter than the spring, startled the drowsing forest with a reveille of song. ”

“ Often, at night, the softening winds shifted, to drive in raw from the north, again tightening the land with frost. But each day, as May neared, the sun swung higher and higher, slowly scattering the snows to flood the ice of myriad lakes and rivers. Already, already Marcel had thrilled to the trumpets of the gray vanguards of the Canadas. ”