397. Spring by John Hall Wheelock. Monroe, Harriet, ed. 1917. The New Poetry: An Anthology

Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). The New Poetry: An Anthology. 1917.

397. Spring

By John Hall Wheelock


THE AIR is full of dawn and spring;
Outside the room I see
A swallow, like a shaft of light,
Shift sideways suddenly.

There is no room for death at all	5
In earth or heaven above;
He never yet believed in death
Who ever learned to love.

Build me a tomb when I am dead,
But leave a window free	10
That I may watch the swallow’s flight,
And spring come back to me.

Build me a tomb of steel and stone,
But leave one window free,
That I may feel the spring come back—	15
And you come back to me!