Spring! thy impatient bloom restrain! <br />Nor wake so soon thy genial power; <br />For deeds of death must hail thy reign, <br />And clouds of fate around thee lower:…. <br /> <br />In vain thy balmy breath to me <br />Scents with its sweets the evening gale; <br />In vain the violet's charms I see, <br />Or fondly mark thy primrose pale: <br /> <br />To me thy softest zephyrs breathe <br />Of sorrow's soul-disparting tone; <br />To me thy most attractive wreath <br />Seems tinged with human blood alone. <br /> <br />Arrest thy steps, thou source of love, <br />Thou genial friend of joy and life! <br />Let not thy smile propitious prove <br />To works of carnage, scenes of strife: <br /> <br />Bid winter all his frowns recall, <br />And back his icy footsteps trace; <br />Again the soil in frost enthral, <br />And check the war-fiend's murderous chase. <br /> <br />Fond, fruitless prayer! Thy hand divine <br />The smiling season on must lead; <br />And still at war's ensanguined shrine <br />Must bid unnumbered victims bleed.<br /><br />Amelia Opie<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/lines-on-the-opening-of-a-spring-campaign-2/
