17. If He Sees Not

If he sees not the springtime green,

If he hears not the birds’ sweet song,

If he goes without having seen

The beatify of that feathered throng;

If he knows not the joy of flowers,

The busy humming of the hive,

He is a spendthrift of the hours,

A base intruder in these bowers

And has no right to be alive.