I part with roseate hand the curtained dark.
Mid bird-songs and celestial laughter,
I perfume all the æther with my breath,
And putting by the envious clouds of Death,
With my insistent yearning
Rekindle the sun's fire and set it burning.
Persephone am I—the Spring!
Whom all things celebrate and sing.
When glad from Hades' sombre home
Back to the dear, dear earth I come,
The gods themselves, my way befriending,
Look down on me with shining eyes benign,
And grant that, to my mother's arms ascending,
Of miracles the loveliest shall be mine.
Howe'er men speak my name
I ever am the same,—
In herb and tree and vine and blossoming flower,
Regenerating, consecrating power,
Youth am I and delight.
Astarte or Aurora, still the priest
Of mysteries beneficently bright.
The vivifying glory of the East,
The Spring, in vesture of transparent dyes
'Broidered with blossoms and with butterflies,
The door that leads from gloomy vasts of Death,—
I resurrection am!—new life! new breath!
