Page:Poems Greenwell.djvu/89

I saw no flowers, no fruit, but everywhere
Leaves, only leaves, that filled the summer air
With murmurs, soft as whispers, that the heart
Hath longed and listened for; while light and low,
As chidings fall from lips that turn their flow
To gentleness, quick rustlings waved apart
The boughs, and fragrance soothed the sense like thought
Too sweet for utterance; e'en then I caught
The Dream's full import: "'Tis the Spring's warm sigh,"
Methought, "that calls forth all this luxury
Of leaf and greenness; thus, upon the heart
A word, a look will bid a Summer start,
A Summer come at once, without a Spring
To herald it, a sudden wakening;"
Then from the bauds of sleep my spirit broke,
And with the sweetness on my soul I woke,
And it was Winter still! but in my heart
Was Summer! Summer that would not depart,
But breathed across its silence, low and light,
Like those sweet forest-rustlings of the night;
It was a dream of Hope! and sent by Her
My Lady bright, because I minister
Unto her honour, while I strive to sing
And praise her with my Lyre's most silver string;
It was a dream of Hope; I know the hue
Of her fresh mantle, and her symbol true,
The leaf! she cannot give the flower or fruit,
But sends their promise by a herald mute;