Children, my children, the spring wakes anew,
And calls through the dawn and the daytime
for flower-like and fleet-footed maidens like you, 
to share in the joy of its play-time.

O'er hill-side and valley, through garden and grove,
Such exquisite anthems are ringing
Where rapturous bulbul and maina and dove
Their carols of welcome are singing.

I know where the ivory lilies unfold
In brooklets half-hidden in sedges,
And the air is aglow with the blossoming gold
Of thickets and hollows and hedges.

I know where the dragon-files glimmer and glide,
And the plumes of wild peacocks are gleaming,
Where the fox and the squirrel and timid fawn hide
And the hawk and the heron lie dreaming.

The earth is ashine like a humming-bird's wing,
And the sky like a kingfisher's feather,
O come, let us go and play with the spring
Like glad-hearted children together.

Sarojini Naidu (1879 − 1949) was a poet and a freedom fighter. She is known as the 'Nightingale of India' because of the musical quality of her poetry, rich with imagery and emotions. 'In the Bazaars of Hyderabad' and 'Indian Weavers' are some of her popular poems.

1. fleet-footed : nimble or fast
2. exquisite : beautiful; magnificent
3. anthems : uplifting songs inspiring happiness
4. rapturous: joyous
5. carols: happy songs
6. brooklets: small streams
7. thickets: a dense group of trees or shrubs
8. hedges: a boundary formed by closely growing shrubs
9. glimmer: shine faintly