University of Virginia Library

XX. SPRING.

Long wished-for, bursts in gladness the new year,
Sweetness and beauty freely sheds around,
And hides anew the sullen withered ground
With tender verdure, whilst from far and near
The song of birds crowds thick upon the ear,
Perplexing sense with multitudinous sound;
No jealous laws are felt that tie and bound
The bounteousness of Nature, no sad fear
Of late born frosts her genial step delays:
As friend to friend his hoarded thought betrays,
Long chilled and frozen by the mastering need
Of sympathy, and finds both that and praise,
So spring is welcome in each flower and weed,
Lavish in love, and fearless in her ways.
May 12, 1864.