by Richard Le Gallienne (1866 - 1947)
This is the spring
Language: English
This is the spring, The time to fling Sad hearts sky-high! To sail old hopes Like kites in the sky, And take old dreams From hidden places, And find old loves In the new faces. This is the spring The time to sing, The time to wing -- Old flowers come out With the old blue eyes, Yet filled anew With the old surprise, And not a thing In the old world dies. This is the spring, The time to bring Love to the folk That make the flowers. The lovely faces In hidden places. Fast asleep Through the April showers. Blue were their eyes, Blue are the flowers, Green as the light ascending blade, Was the hope in the hearts That laughed and said ; "Are you afraid?" Forget them not, This shining day, The apple-blossom Is in the sky, -- But, do you forget That you will die. That even you Will some day lie As low as any flower of May. If only when you come to die, From your still heart A song shall rise, Or from the eyelids Of your eyes The moon shall steal out In the sky, An unforgetful fragrant flower, Or from your grave A butterfly Flit for an hour.
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Text Authorship:
- by Richard Le Gallienne (1866 - 1947), "Spring", appears in New Poems, first published 1910 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Frances Wyman , "Song of Spring", published <<1940. [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2011-02-14
Line count: 52
Word count: 206