Thoreau on Month of March

from The Writings of Henry D. Thoreau

Early Essays and Miscellanies (1975) 

Princeton University Press

from "Book of the Seasons"

essay:

March, the first month

in antiquity, was named

so after Mars the god

of war, because he was

the Father of their first

prince.  All Nature is now

reviving; the earth throws

off her snowy mantle and

puts on the garb of Spring;

the squirrel comes forth

from his subterranean abode

to snuff the fresh air, and 

commence his sprightly

gambols along the walls

and hedges, or skip from

tree to tree, seemingly in

mere sport.  The air is still

too chilly for the feathered

race, though the shrill and

doleful note of the Jay is

heard in the orchards.

(page 30 in "Early Essays")