Although the spring is hastening to pursue
The swift white deer of winter through the glades,
Sometimes they pause for breath beneath the shades;
Then blows the frozen hurricane anew.
And so the chill of thy neglect invades
My heart, in which of late a timid few
Flowers began to spring, until there blew
This sudden storm, blighting the tender blades.

But when April at last shall put to flight
The pallid cohorts of the lingering snow,
And every leaf lifts upward to the light,
And every spirit blossoms from its woe,
Ah, then relent, and let me have my share
Of joy, and rise up radiant from care.