WHEN Phœbus looks through Aries on the spring, And vernal flow'rs teem with the dulcet fruit, Autumnal pride! delay not then thy sets In Tellus' facile bosom to depose Timely; if thou art wise the bulkiest choose; To every root three joints indulge, and form The quincunx with well-regulated hills. Soon from the dung-enrichèd earth, their heads The young plants will uplift, their virgin arms They'll stretch, and, marriageable, claim the pole. ... But yet in the novitiate of their love, And tenderness of youth, suffice small shoots Cut from the widow'd willow, nor provide Poles unsurmountable as yet. 'Tis then, When twice bright Phœbus' vivifying ray, Twice the cold touch of Winter's icy hand, They've felt; 'tis then we fell sublimer props. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BIRTHDAY POEM FOR THOMAS HARDY by CECIL DAY LEWIS A DIM DOORWAY by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON MY BOY by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE RETURN (2) by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON BEFORE A PAINTING by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON THE LONESOME CHILD by KATHERINE MANSFIELD |