John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892). The Poetical Works in Four Volumes. 1892.
At SundownThe Wind of March
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Under the sky’s gray arch;
Smiling, I watch the shaken elm-boughs, knowing
It is the wind of March.
This stormy interlude
Gives to our winter-wearied hearts a reason
For trustful gratitude.
Of light and warmth to come,
The longed-for joy of Nature’s Easter morning,
The earth arisen in bloom!
I listen to the sound,
As to a voice of resurrection, waking
To life the dead, cold ground.
Of rivulets on their way;
I see these tossed and naked tree-tops darken
With the fresh leaves of May.
Invite the airs of Spring,
A warmer sunshine over fields of flowering,
The bluebird’s song and wing.
This northern hurricane,
And, borne thereon, the bobolink and swallow
Shall visit us again.
And by the whispering rills,
Shall flowers repeat the lesson of the Master,
Taught on his Syrian hills.
Thy chill in blossoming;
Come, like Bethesda’s troubling angel, bringing
The healing of the Spring.