University of Virginia Library

LOVE AND SPRING.

The black trees shall green clothing have,
Upon the dark lands corn shall wave,
And rain from the bright clouds of spring
Beauty of budding life shall bring;
The heaven put on change of blue,
The earth be garmented anew,
And thus the mild and virgin year
Be clad in maiden-raiment fair;
Then early radiance shall beam through
Myriad drops of morning dew,
And birds rejoicingly shall sing,
Ascending with sleep-freshened wing;
Bright-wall'd heaven re-echoing.
And soft, and sweet, and pure, and free,
As maiden's breath, the air shall be,
Hushing the soul entrancingly:
And from the hush, as birth of power,
Come Love, like wind-attended shower;
Making the heart as rain-swell'd brook,
Which narrowing limits has forsook;
When bright and varying, swift and free,
The waters stream on eddyingly.
Love can give to life the sense
Of being, thousandfold intense;
In heart and thought, as earth and air,
Create a universal stir;
With a new eye, the spirit bless
Upbeaming into boundlessness.
Laws of light may tell me why
Such colour hath the sea and sky;
But only Love explains to me,
Why I look on both delightedly.
Clear-voiced science makes me know
Of summer rains and winter snow;
Why the winds rush, the rivers flow;
But Love from waters, weather, wind,
Brings changing joy of heart and mind
Love a triple crown shall wear,
It governs sea, and land, and air;
By triple star shall emblem'd be,
Its power, joy, eternity.
Love has sorrows with delight,
Wildly clouded, lustrous-bright;
But like winter-conquering spring,
By storm advances blossoming.
When the sapphire-builded sky
Dims and totters tremblingly;
Earnest, everlasting Love,
Shall its storm-swept heaven remove.