Of a thousand things that the Year snowed under -- The busy Old Year who has gone away -- How many will rise in the Spring, I wonder, Brought to life by the sun of May? Will the rose-tree branches, so wholly hidden That never a rose-tree seems to be, At the sweet Spring's call come forth unbidden, And bud in beauty, and bloom for me? Will the fair, green Earth, whose throbbing bosom Is hid like a maid's in her gown at night, Wake out of her sleep, and with blade and blossom Gem her garments to please my sight? Over the knoll in the valley yonder The loveliest buttercups bloomed and grew; When the snow has gone that drifted them under, Will they shoot up sunward, and bloom anew? When wild winds blew, and a sleet-storm pelted, I lost a jewel of priceless worth; If I walk that way when snows have melted, Will the gem gleam up from the bare, brown Earth? I laid a love that was dead or dying, For the year to bury and hide from sight; But out of a trance will it waken, crying, And push to my heart, like a leaf to the light? Under the snow lie things so cherished -- Hopes, ambitions, and dreams of men -- Faces that vanished, and trusts that perished, Never to sparkle and glow again. The Old Year greedily grasped his plunder, And covered it over and hurried away: Of the thousand things that he hid, I wonder How many will rise at the call of May? O wise Young Year, with your hands held under Your mantle of ermine, tell me, pray! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE FLOWER OF BEAUTY by GEORGE DARLEY A SONG FROM THE COPTIC by JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE THE GRASSHOPPER AND THE CRICKET by JAMES HENRY LEIGH HUNT THE CHILDREN'S HOUR by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW STANZAS ON FINDING THE KEY OF AN OLD PIANO by E. JUSTINE BAYARD THE LAST BALLADE; MASTER FRANCOIS VILLON LOQUITUR by THOMAS BEER |