The Collected Poems of Lord De Tabley [i.e. J. B. L. Warren] |
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| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| XI. |
| XII. |
| XIII. |
| XIV. |
| XV. |
| XVI. |
NATURE'S RENEWING |
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 | The Collected Poems of Lord De Tabley |  |
NATURE'S RENEWING
The genial year awakening,
When mellow air begins to burn,
Arises in a robe of spring
From ruined winter's hoary urn;
Whom hearing, all dumb birds must sing.
When mellow air begins to burn,
Arises in a robe of spring
From ruined winter's hoary urn;
Whom hearing, all dumb birds must sing.
86
The sacred earth in her delight
Steams under April's wheeling sun.
The king-cup gathers amber might,
The clouds in triumph melt and run.
The grey lark trembles out of sight.
Steams under April's wheeling sun.
The king-cup gathers amber might,
The clouds in triumph melt and run.
The grey lark trembles out of sight.
And here and there a fervid bud,
The restless herald of the year,
When vernal currents move its blood,
Expands in painted petals clear.
The flushed merle screams along the wood.
The restless herald of the year,
When vernal currents move its blood,
Expands in painted petals clear.
The flushed merle screams along the wood.
The rain is tender on the ground,
Smooth-headed robins ruffle out
Their plumage. Spring, in every sound
Divine and sudden, sheds about
Her green dilation at a bound.
Smooth-headed robins ruffle out
Their plumage. Spring, in every sound
Divine and sudden, sheds about
Her green dilation at a bound.
The sap in old blind things is warmed:
The eager palm outruns its leaves.
The peering crocus, turf-embalmed,
In gardens under cottage eaves
Comes now the hollow winds are calmed.
The eager palm outruns its leaves.
The peering crocus, turf-embalmed,
In gardens under cottage eaves
Comes now the hollow winds are calmed.
Those faint red boles with many a line,
Those peeling sides, the ring-dove's perch,
Which white in darkened coppice shine
Are silver clusters of the birch;
They seem bright woodland ladies fine!
Those peeling sides, the ring-dove's perch,
Which white in darkened coppice shine
Are silver clusters of the birch;
They seem bright woodland ladies fine!
The larch has blushing finger-tips;
As tho' love-whispers of the spring
Had reached her on the March-winds' lips,
Or she had heard them in the ring
Of rain-drops down the forest slips.
As tho' love-whispers of the spring
Had reached her on the March-winds' lips,
Or she had heard them in the ring
Of rain-drops down the forest slips.
And in the wasted snow-drop's room
Come daffodils abundantly,
The treasure of the violet's gloom
Dividing with her. Can they be,
Those steady purples aspen bloom?
Come daffodils abundantly,
The treasure of the violet's gloom
Dividing with her. Can they be,
Those steady purples aspen bloom?
87
O glory of the dim green bough,
O April floors of primrose zone:
It seems as if the grey world now
Had laid asleep her ocean moan,
And barren drifts of windy snow.
O April floors of primrose zone:
It seems as if the grey world now
Had laid asleep her ocean moan,
And barren drifts of windy snow.
| The Collected Poems of Lord De Tabley | |