 | The Poems of Selwyn Image |  |
49
A LONDONER'S SPRINGTIDE
Beneath the purple hedgerow gleams
The celandine's clear golden star;
The early bees renew their search
Where the first dewy violets are;
The poignant scent of springing grass
Distils its fragrance as we pass.
The celandine's clear golden star;
The early bees renew their search
Where the first dewy violets are;
The poignant scent of springing grass
Distils its fragrance as we pass.
Into the lucent, tremulous blue
A lark soars on a wave of song;
'Twixt hawthorn boughs and hazelwood
The busy mating finches throng;
First pledge of radiant hours a-nigh,
Floats past a golden butterfly.
A lark soars on a wave of song;
'Twixt hawthorn boughs and hazelwood
The busy mating finches throng;
First pledge of radiant hours a-nigh,
Floats past a golden butterfly.
Ah! not for us, whom Fate condemns
To grimy, glum, congested streets,
Save in some idle verse to feel
The allurement of these natural sweets,
Their tender, deep, enraptured spell
From dawning hour to evening's knell.
To grimy, glum, congested streets,
Save in some idle verse to feel
The allurement of these natural sweets,
Their tender, deep, enraptured spell
From dawning hour to evening's knell.
To us the one dull hurrying round,
Whatever season's joys be in;
Straight office walls for leafy glade,
For song of thrush the pavement's din,
December chill or August heat,
Drag on the same our captive feet!
Whatever season's joys be in;
Straight office walls for leafy glade,
For song of thrush the pavement's din,
December chill or August heat,
Drag on the same our captive feet!
O souls of little faith awake!
Your heritage of vernal grace
Awaits you. Nature holds her way
O'er every circumstance of place:
In street or woodland, lo! she still
Shall her predestined work fulfil.
Your heritage of vernal grace
Awaits you. Nature holds her way
O'er every circumstance of place:
50
Shall her predestined work fulfil.
If seeing eye be mine, and heart
That feels, the pulses of the Spring
To London as to countryside
Her mystic admonitions bring;
Nor only where the beds and trees
Unclose beneath her magic breeze.
That feels, the pulses of the Spring
To London as to countryside
Her mystic admonitions bring;
Nor only where the beds and trees
Unclose beneath her magic breeze.
My heart's astir with new desire,
My brain's awake to fancies new;
I soar beyond the mists that chill,
Enchanted visions leap to view:
Oh! budding boughs of square and street,
In kindred joy your birth I greet:
My brain's awake to fancies new;
I soar beyond the mists that chill,
Enchanted visions leap to view:
Oh! budding boughs of square and street,
In kindred joy your birth I greet:
I see my dear old London Town
As sleeper from a nightmare rise,
Escaped from some dull demon's thrall,
Alert with wonder in her eyes,
And Mistress of our gracious land
Once more in peerless beauty stand!
As sleeper from a nightmare rise,
Escaped from some dull demon's thrall,
Alert with wonder in her eyes,
And Mistress of our gracious land
Once more in peerless beauty stand!
March 17th, 1900.
| The Poems of Selwyn Image | |