One Day in Spring...

One day in spring, a woman came In my lonely woods, In the lovely form of the Beloved. Came, to give to my songs, melodies, To give to my dreams, sweetness. Suddenly a wild wave Broke over my heart's shores And drowned all language. To my lips no name came, She stood beneath the tree, turned, Glanced at my face, made sad with pain, And with quick steps, came and sat by me. Taking my hands in hers, she said: 'You do not know me, nor I you-- I wonder how this could be?' I said: 'We two shall build, a bridge for ever Between two beings, each to the other unknown, This eager wonder is at the heart of things.' The cry that is in my heart is also the cry of her heart; The thread with which she binds me binds her too. Her have I sought everywhere, Her have I worshipped within me, Hidden in that worship she has sought me too. Crossing the wide oceans, she came to steal my heart. She forgot to return, having lost her own. Her own charms play traitor to her, She spreads her net, knowing not Whether she will catch or be caught.

Rabindranath Tagore

The Spring



By Thomas Carew


Now that the winter's gone, the earth hath lost

Her snow-white robes, and now no more the frost

Candies the grass, or casts an icy cream

Upon the silver lake or crystal stream;

But the warm sun thaws the benumbed earth,

And makes it tender; gives a sacred birth

To the dead swallow; wakes in hollow tree

The drowsy cuckoo, and the humble-bee.

Now do a choir of chirping minstrels bring

In triumph to the world the youthful Spring.

The valleys, hills, and woods in rich array

Welcome the coming of the long'd-for May.

Now all things smile, only my love doth lour;

Nor hath the scalding noonday sun the power

To melt that marble ice, which still doth hold

Her heart congeal'd, and makes her pity cold.

The ox, which lately did for shelter fly

Into the stall, doth now securely lie

In open fields; and love no more is made

By the fireside, but in the cooler shade

Amyntas now doth with his Chloris sleep

Under a sycamore, and all things keep

Time with the season; only she doth carry

June in her eyes, in her heart January.

“April's air stirs in
Willow-leaves...a butterfly
Floats and balances”

― Matsuo Bashō, Japanese Haiku




“Don't touch my plumtree!
Said my friend and saying so...
Broke the branch for me”

― Taigi, Japanese Haiku




“Dead my old fine hopes
And dry my dreaming but still...
Iris, blue each spring”

― Shushiki, Japanese Haiku

Spring and all its flowers
now joyously break their vow of silence.
It is time for celebration, not for lying low;
You too -- weed out those roots of sadness from your heart.

Hafiz

"Every tear is answered by a blossom,
every sigh with songs and laughter blent.
April blooms upon the breezes toss them.
April knows her own, and is content."

-Susan Coolidge (1835-1905)

The sea at springtime.
All day it rises and falls,
yes, rises and falls.

Buson (1716 - 1784)

"The March wind roars
Like a lion in the sky,
And makes us shiver
As he passes by.
When winds are soft,
And the days are warm and clear,
Just like a gentle lamb,
Then spring is here."
- Author Unknown

"I wonder if the sap is stirring yet,
If wintry birds are dreaming of a mate,
If frozen snowdrops feel as yet the sun
And crocus fires are kindling one by one:
Sing robin, sing:
I still am sore in doubt concerning Spring."
- Christina Rossetti

"Come, fill the Cup, and in the Fire of Spring
The Winter Garment of Repentance fling:
The Bird of Time has but a little way
To fly--and Lo! the Bird is on the Wing."

- Omar Khayyám
****************

"Come, fill the Cup, and in the Fire of Spring
The Winter Garment of Repentance fling
The Bird of Time has but a little way
To fly -- and Lo! The Bird is on the Wing.

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it."

- Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám
*******************************

"In my old home
which I forsook, the cherries
are in bloom."

- Issa, 1800

It is spring, but there is still quite a bit of snow in the gardens.

"To what can our life on earth be likened?
To a flock of geese,
alighting on the snow.
Sometimes leaving a trace of their passage."

- Su Shi

“Of late the nights
are dawning
plum-blossom white.”

Pure white plum blossoms
slowly begin to turn
the color of dawn

― Yosa Buson

Tides of the spring sea,
tide after indolent tide
drifting
on and on...

In the spring sea
Waves undulating and undulating
All day long.

The spring sea rising
And falling, rising
And falling all day.

-Buson

The light on a candle stand
is transferred to another candle -
spring twilight.

Lighting one candle
with another candle;
an evening of spring.

-Buson

Thank you for the lovely quotes and pictures.
I used to write poetry, so I truly appreciate this thread.

Sincerely,
Gisele

Roses are starting to bloom.

 

“That which God said to the rose, and caused it to laugh in full-blown beauty, He said to my heart, and made it a hundred times more beautiful.”

 

-RUMI