Once, Paumanok,
When [the snows had melted -- when]1 the lilac-scent was in the air,
  and [the]1 Fifth-month grass was growing,
Up this sea-shore, in some briers,
Two [guests]2 from Alabama -- two together,
And their nest, and four light-green eggs, spotted with brown,
And every day the he-bird, to and fro, near at hand,
And every day the she-bird, crouch'd on her nest, silent, with bright eyes,
And every day I, a curious boy, never too close, never disturbing them,
Cautiously peering, absorbing, translating.