 | Carol and Cadence |  |
THE ALMOND TREE.
The almond flowers in March,
The month when most of all the weary East winds parch
And flay the labouring lands.
Above the general dearth,
Whilst Winter lingereth yet, it spreadeth rosy hands,
Spring's benison to assure unto the suffering earth.
The month when most of all the weary East winds parch
And flay the labouring lands.
Above the general dearth,
Whilst Winter lingereth yet, it spreadeth rosy hands,
Spring's benison to assure unto the suffering earth.
Against the long grey lines
Of London's walls, still scarred with Winter's lingering signs,
With arms yet bare of leaves,
Upon its branches sere
Its bright and blushing veil of virgin bloom it weaves,
As if to anticipate the bridal of the year.
Of London's walls, still scarred with Winter's lingering signs,
With arms yet bare of leaves,
Upon its branches sere
Its bright and blushing veil of virgin bloom it weaves,
As if to anticipate the bridal of the year.
Such heat is in its heart,
It may not wait till rain and hail and fog depart:
To leaf it lingereth not,
But robes itself in rose,
Like to some poet young, in whom his youth is hot
And needs must flower in rhyme, or e'er it leaf in prose.
It may not wait till rain and hail and fog depart:
To leaf it lingereth not,
But robes itself in rose,
Like to some poet young, in whom his youth is hot
And needs must flower in rhyme, or e'er it leaf in prose.
No need it hath of green
To tell its timeless tale of Summer's coming sheen:
Though all of Spring despair,
Beneath the frowning sky,
It feels the future stir of April in the air
And flowers its frolic dream of Maytide drawing nigh.
To tell its timeless tale of Summer's coming sheen:
Though all of Spring despair,
Beneath the frowning sky,
It feels the future stir of April in the air
And flowers its frolic dream of Maytide drawing nigh.
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Live ever, lovesome tree!
A homily of hope and faith thou fablest me.
God grant that I as thou
May still at heart have Spring,
Still may the fair To-be feel through the niggard Now
And in the Winter-night the summer-day foresing!
A homily of hope and faith thou fablest me.
God grant that I as thou
May still at heart have Spring,
Still may the fair To-be feel through the niggard Now
And in the Winter-night the summer-day foresing!
Like thee in this I am,
That still my spirit flies the flower-tide's oriflamme
And still with Summer's sign
Defies the wintry clime,
That, though my head be grey and lack of leaves like thine,
My heart blooms lush and free with flowers of love and rhyme.
That still my spirit flies the flower-tide's oriflamme
And still with Summer's sign
Defies the wintry clime,
That, though my head be grey and lack of leaves like thine,
My heart blooms lush and free with flowers of love and rhyme.
| Carol and Cadence | |