Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862)/The First Spring Day
THE FIRST SPRING DAY.
I wonder if the sap is stirring yet,If wintry birds are dreaming of a mate,If frozen snowdrops feel as yet the sunAnd crocus fires are kindling one by one:Sing, robin, sing;I still am sore in doubt concerning Spring.
I wonder if the springtide of this yearWill bring another Spring both lost and dear;If heart and spirit will find out their Spring,Or if the world alone will bud and sing:Sing, hope, to me;Sweet notes, my hope, soft notes for memory.
The sap will surely quicken soon or late,The tardiest bird will twitter to a mate;So Spring must dawn again with warmth and bloom,Or in this world, or in the world to come:Sing, voice of Spring,Till I too blossom and rejoice and sing.