Tiresias, and Other Poems/Early Spring

by Alfred Tennyson

EARLY SPRING.

I.Once more the Heavenly PowerMakes all things new,And domes the red-plow'd hillsWith loving blue;The blackbirds have their wills,The throstles too.

II.Opens a door in Heaven;From skies of glass A Jacob's ladder fallsOn greening grass,And o'er the mountain-wallsYoung angels pass.

III.Before them fleets the shower,And burst the buds,And shine the level lands,And flash the floods;The stars are from their handsFlung thro' the woods,

IV.The woods with living airsHow softly fann'd,Light airs from where the deep,All down the sand, Is breathing in his sleep,Heard by the land.

V.O follow, leaping blood,The season's lure!O heart, look down and upSerene, sereneWarm as the crocus cup,Like snowdrops, pure!

VI.Past, Future glimpse and fadeThro' some slight spell,A gleam from yonder vale,Some far blue fell,And sympathies, how frail,In sound and smell!

VII.Till at thy chuckled note,Thou twinkling bird,The fairy fancies range,And, lightly stirr'd,Ring little bells of changeFrom word to word.

VIII.For now the Heavenly PowerMakes all things new,And thaws the cold, and fillsThe flower with dew;The blackbirds have their wills,The poets too.