Canto CXIII

Now fades the last long streak of snow,

      Now burgeons every maze of quick

      About the flowering squares, and thick

By ashen roots the violets blow.

Now rings the woodland loud and long,

      The distance takes a lovelier hue,

      And drown'd in yonder living blue

The lark becomes a sightless song.

Now dance the lights on lawn and lea,

      The flocks are whiter down the vale,

      And milkier every milky sail

On winding stream or distant sea;

Where now the seamew pipes, or dives

      In yonder greening gleam, and fly

      The happy birds, that change their sky

To build and brood; that live their lives

From land to land; and in my breast

      Spring wakens too; and my regret

      Becomes an April violet,

And buds and blossoms like the rest.