“The Crocus”

THE CROCUS 
Harriet Beecher Stowe

Beneath the sunny autumn sky, 
With gold leaves dropping round, 
We sought, my little friend and I, 
The consecrated ground, 
Where, calm beneath the holy cross, 
O’ershadowed by sweet skies, 
Sleeps tranquilly that youthful form, 
Those blue unclouded eyes. 

Around the soft, green swelling mound 
We scooped the earth away, 
And buried deep the crocus-bulbs 
Against a coming day. 
“These roots are dry, and brown, and sere; 
Why plant them here?” he said, 
“To leave them, all the winter long, 
So desolate and dead.” 

“Dear child, within each sere dead form 
There sleeps a living flower, 
And angel-like it shall arise 
In spring’s returning hour.” 
Ah, deeper down cold, dark, and chill 
We buried our heart’s flower, 
But angel-like shall he arise 
In spring’s immortal hour. 

In blue and yellow from its grave 
Springs up the crocus fair, 
And God shall raise those bright blue eyes, 
Those sunny waves of hair. 
Not for a fading summer’s morn, 
Not for a fleeting hour, 
But for an endless age of bliss, 
Shall rise our heart’s dear flower

“I wandered lonely as a cloud….”

 

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
–  William Wordsworth, Daffodils

 

“Though a country be sundered, hills and rivers endure…”

It’s never too early to think about spring…..

 A Spring View by Tu Fu

Though a country be sundered, hills and rivers endure;
And spring comes green again to trees and grasses
Where petals have been shed like tears
And lonely birds have sung their grief.
… After the war-fires of three months,
One message from home is worth a ton of gold.
… I stroke my white hair. It has grown too thin
To hold the hairpins any more.

 

 Chinese poet Tu Fu

Born: c. 712 Kung-hsien, China; Died: c. 770 Tanzhou, China
Tu Fu was a great Chinese poet of the T’ang dynasty, a family that ruled China from 618 to 907. He is known as a poet-historian for his portrayal of the social and political disorders of his time and is also noted for his artistry and craftsmanship.