April from The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer

 April 

Based on The Canterbury Tales: Prologue 

With apologies to Chaucer 

for my modern rendering

Text, design & research by Rick Doble. All images are from commons.wikimedia.org unless otherwise noted.

 Many little birds 
 make melody 

 when April 
 with his showers  

 bathes the root  

 of each flower  

 soaking them 
 with sweet liquor 

 so that the tender shoots 

 and buds do grow 

The Original Text:

Here bygynneth the Book 
of the tales of Caunterbury
Whan that aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of march hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
Tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the ram his halve cours yronne,
And smale foweles maken melodye,...