Classic Poem

At last with soft magnolia blooms
The southern woods are fair,
And jasmines add their rich perfumes
To the delicious air.

At last the less luxuriant north
Wakes from its torpid spell,
And tender living things creep forth
Into the sunshine's swell.

Dark Lenten shades again dissolve
In glorious Easter light,
And faith awakes with high resolve
From penitential night.

All life is born, in these low spheres,
From other life's decay,
Some sombre night of tears or fears
Begets each golden day,

And though we walk with eyes too blind
To what such things declare,
Conviction deep sways every mind
That in some world more fair,

When death has worked its icy will
Upon the summer's cheer
And all the lust of life lies still
Upon its iron bier,

Soft Springs and Easter-tides shall break
With light supremely fair,
And every sleeping thing awake
In the delicious air.