What is the subject of the poem?

covert: hidden or secret

candid: truthful and straightforward

what i get from these phrases is covert means undercover or underground and that's where the flower is in april. on the other hand, may is the month where flowers start to bloom and thats the reason why candid is being used as a word to describe the blossoming period of a flower.

hope this answer you.

c. barbarians with unexpected intelligence  

evertheless he ought to be slow to believe and to act, nor should he himself show fear, but proceed in a temperate manner with prudence and humanity, so that too much confidence may not make him incautious and too much distrust render him intolerable.

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