And my heart went out in their songs to thee,
On the fresh winds borne o'er the hills along,
Child of music, and mirth, and song!

Oh, Spring! sweet Spring! 'neath your gentle reign.
Life, light, and beauty are born again;
And sad hearts, hopeless in Winter days,
Break forth to singing glad songs of praise--
For that promise renewed in your yearly birth
Of a fadeless Spring and a ransomed Earth!




ONLY "A LITTLE WHILE."


I saw the sun arise in light at morning;
My being drank the beauty, like some dream
That comes when all is dark, the gloom adorning
With gilding mystic--bright--a soul-world gleam

I saw the noontide flush on grove and meadow,
I heard the coo of birds that seem'd at rest;
And the fair radiance, all undimm'd by shadow,
Was like a foretaste of the bright and blest.

I saw, when evening's mellow sunlight glinted,
Far and anear, gleaming on wood and gold;
Mountain and valley shone all carmine-tinted,