Oh, most tender human heart,
How swiftly came the cruel dart—
&nbs On wordless frown that volumes spoke,
On judgment's keen oppressive poke;
Projectile's shivered shards cajoled
Blood to boil and then run cold,
And dove the blue-veined labyrinth
To crack the opaque mystic plinth;
Deafening silence in prolonged cry
Of travail's woe did vitrify,
Shearing bare quintessence's wings,
And froze your myriad diverse strings—
Arise from Winter's weeping tree
To fevered Spring's tranquillity!
Why then, caprice, take heart, take heart,
Sing the madrigal's winsome part—
Where nature mocks man's timid woo,
In double time, cuckoo, cuckoo!
Cavorting whispers on the breeze,
Velvet promise, vernal tease,
Stirring snowdrop's head to nod,
Fluffs the willow's divining rod;
Where lilac's fragrance does conspire,
With blushing kiss of tulip's fire,
And softest down of new-born dove,
To weave a dream of heartsease love—
Oh, dandelion adagio,
Fly free in one pulsatory blow!
Come, drift down and come undone
In fields of poppy-filtered sun—
Unloose the braided golden wheat,
Float through clouds of meadowsweet!
Drown in drone of drunken bee,
Canterbury ecstasy;
Succumb to petalled radiance,
Full-blown, wild-rose dalliance;
The sultry hands of zenith's hour,
Bind with convolvulus' power;
Squeeze the bramble's reddest currant—
Aromatic resuscitant—
Quench now with nectar-wine your thirst,
The zealous heartthrob long immersed!
Entwine the soul in tapestry hues,
Stretching broken-threaded purlieus—
Aspen gold upon the weft,
Transcendent-spun, with fingers deft;
Russet oak, its gnarled embrace,
Fires the torch of wisdom's grace;
Lazy smoke, in warpward haze,
Perspicacious underlays;
Healing vestige of magic's thread
Preserves the spell—bound, berry-bled;
Jaded green, through needle's eye,
Embroiders promised butterfly—
So, softly now, in snow-white heart,
Cloak the dulled forgotten dart!
– Jennifer van Westrum