Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, FIRST SPRING FLOWERS, by MARY WOOLSEY HOWLAND


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

FIRST SPRING FLOWERS, by                    
First Line: I am watching for the early buds to wake
Last Line: It, too, may reach him, where he sleeping lies.
Subject(s): Death; Flowers; Dead, The


I AM watching for the early buds to wake
Under the snow:
From little beds the soft white covering take,
And, nestling, lo!
They lie, with pink lips parted, all aglow!

O darlings! open wide your tender eyes;
See! I am here—
Have been here, waiting under winter skies
Till you appear—
You, just come up from where he lies so near.

Tell me, dear flowers, is he gently laid,
Wrapped round from cold;
Has spring about him fair green garments made,
Fold over fold;
Are sweet things growing with him in the mold?

Has he found quiet resting-place at last,
After the fight?
What message did he send me, as you passed
Him in the night,
Eagerly pushing upward toward the light?

I will not pluck you, lest his hand should be
Close clasping you:
These slender fibers which so cling to me
Do grasp him too—
What gave these delicate veins their bloodred hue?

One kiss I press, dear little bud, half shut,
On your sweet eyes;
For when the April rain falls at your foot,
And April sun yearns downward to your root
From soft spring skies,
It, too, may reach him, where he sleeping lies.





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