Now fades the last long streak of snow

There is so much to worry about these days. So much to fret over, fear, and dread. I was ruminating over some of those things the other morning when I saw the first little crocuses peeking their bright heads up through the still-frosty ground. By the next day, daffodils were blooming along the same path; and within the week, forsythia, Siberian squill, hyacinth, and even a few particularly brave tulips..

It’s awfully hard to despair about the world when all around you, it is blooming with new life and the promise of warmer days. Thank you, spring!

Now fades the last long streak of snow

by Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)

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.

Excerpt from the poem, “In Memoriam A.H.H.”