Oh the cheerful Budding-time! <br />When thorn-hedges turn to green, <br />When new leaves of elm and lime <br />Cleave and shed their winter screen; <br />Tender lambs are born and 'baa,' <br />North wind finds no snow to bring, <br />Vigorous Nature laughs 'Ha, ha,' <br />In the miracle of spring. <br /> <br />Oh the gorgeous Blossom-days! <br />When broad flag-flowers drink and blow, <br />In and out in summer-blaze <br />Dragon-flies flash to and fro; <br />Ashen branches hang out keys, <br />Oaks put forth the rosy shoot, <br />Wandering herds wax sleek at ease, <br />Lovely blossoms end in fruit. <br /> <br />Oh the shouting Harvest-weeks! <br />Mother earth grown fat with sheaves <br />Thrifty gleaner finds who seeks; <br />Russet-golden pomp of leaves <br />Crowns the woods, to fall at length; <br />Bracing winds are felt to stir, <br />Ocean gathers up her strength, <br />Beasts renew their dwindled fur. <br /> <br />Oh the starving Winter-lapse! <br />Ice-bound, hunger-pinched and dim; <br />Dormant roots recall their saps, <br />Empty nests show black and grim, <br />Short-lived sunshine gives no heat, <br />Undue buds are nipped by frost, <br />Snow sets forth a winding-sheet, <br />And all hope of life seems lost.<br /><br />Christina Georgina Rossetti<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/seasons-30/
