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Home  »  The Oxford Book of English Verse  »  227. Spring Bereaved 2

Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.

William Drummond, of Hawthornden. 1585–1649

227. Spring Bereaved 2

SWEET Spring, thou turn’st with all thy goodly train, 
Thy head with flames, thy mantle bright with flow’rs: 
The zephyrs curl the green locks of the plain, 
The clouds for joy in pearls weep down their show’rs. 
Thou turn’st, sweet youth, but ah! my pleasant hours         5
And happy days with thee come not again; 
The sad memorials only of my pain 
Do with thee turn, which turn my sweets in sours. 
Thou art the same which still thou wast before, 
Delicious, wanton, amiable, fair;  10
But she, whose breath embalm’d thy wholesome air, 
Is gone—nor gold nor gems her can restore. 
  Neglected virtue, seasons go and come, 
  While thine forgot lie closèd in a tomb.