(In the Accademia of Florence) WHAT masque of what old wind-withered New-Year Honours this Lady? Flora, wanton-eyed For birth, and with all flowrets prankt and pied: Aurora, Zephyrus, with mutual cheer Of clasp and kiss: the Graces circling near, 'Neath bower-linked arch of whhite arms glorified: And with those feathered feet which hovering glide O'er Spring's brief bloom, Hermes the harbinger. Birth-bare, not death-bare yet, the young stems stand, This Lady's temple-columns: o'er her head Love wings his shaft. What mystery here is read Of homage or of hope? But how command Dead Springs to answer? And how question here These mummers of that wind-withered New-Year? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HIS GRANGE, OR PRIVATE WEALTH by ROBERT HERRICK UPON HIS PICTURE by THOMAS RANDOLPH HONEY DRIPPING FROM THE COMB by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY QUATRAIN: FROM EASTERN SOURCES: 3 by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH MOUNTAIN FROLIC by GEORGE LAWRENCE ANDREWS THE SONG OF THE ILL-BELOVED; TO PAUL LEAUTARD by GUILLAUME APOLLINAIRE NIGHTINGALE AND CUCKOO by ALFRED AUSTIN |