And after April, when May follows,
And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows!
Hark, where my blossomed pear-tree in the hedge
Leans to the field and scatters on the clover
Blossoms and dewdrops—at the bent spray’s edge—
That’s the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could recapture
The first fine careless rapture!
And though the fields look rough with hoary dew,
All will be gay when noontide wakes anew
The buttercups, the little children’s dower
Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!

Home Thoughts from Abroad
Robert Browning (1812-1889)
Beetham, Cumbria: Simon King Press, 1984

Simon King opened his press in 1981 with an Arab treadle platen and two Albion presses. One of his first projects was a series of single poems, illustrated with his own woodcuts. Edition of 250 numbered copies. Rare Books copy is no. 91.