The spring is come again not as at first For then it was my spring; & now a brood Of bitter memories haunt me, & my mood Is much changed from the time when I was nursed In the still country. Oh! my heart could burst Thinking upon the long ago: the crude Hopes all unrealised; the flowers that strewed My path, now changed to painful thorns & curst. And though I know the kingcups are as fine As they were then, my spirit cannot soar As it did once: when shadows of a wood Or thinking of a blossom that soon should Unfold & fill the air with scent, would pour Peace on my brow now marked with many a line. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SUNDAY NIGHT by LOUIS UNTERMEYER A DAY DREAM by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE THE SLAVE MOTHER by FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER EVANGELINE; A TALE OF ACADIE by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW MESSMATES by HENRY JOHN NEWBOLT OPPORTUNITY by EDWARD ROWLAND SILL TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON ON HEARING HIM MISPRAISED by MATTHEW ARNOLD |