[17]

Even as she from out her wintry cell

My spirit also sprang to life anew,

And day by day as the spring's bounty grew,

Its conquering joy possessed me like a spell.

In reverie by day and midnight dream

I sought these upland fields and walked apart,

Musing on Nature, till my thought did seem

To read the very secrets of her heart;

In mooded moments earnest and sublime

I stored the themes of many a future song,

Whose substance should be Nature's, clear and strong,

Bound in a casket of majestic rhyme.

Brave bud-like plans that never reached the fruit,

Like hers our mother's who with every hour,

Easily replenished from the sleepless root,

Covers her bosom with fresh bud and flower;

Yet I was happy as young lovers be,

Who in the season of their passion's birth

Deem that they have their utmost worship's worth,

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