Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE CROCUS, by HERBERT TRENCH


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE CROCUS, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: On mountains the crocus
Last Line: So she breathes the sun-song of the crocus, -- reveal it, repeat it, who can!
Subject(s): Crocuses; Love; Plants; Planting; Planters


I

ON mountains the crocus
Ere hollows be clear
In the bed of the snowdrift
Will rise and appear;
Aloft the pure crocus
Born under the snow
In the sun is left trembling,
All bare to his glow,
Like the heart of the woman who listens to love in the forests below:

II

The lover speaks.

"O light-born, how oft
Shall I drink in, like wine,
Thy body cloud-soft,
Earth's marvel, yet mine?
How oft shall I dare,
Unabsolved by death,
In the flood of thy hair,
In the flame of thy breath?
From the incense-boat Sun hast thou wandered, a dream from a time beyond
death?"

III

And she yearns to respond
To that strain out of reach,
To that glowing and subtle
Stream-spirit of speech.
But she weeps -- ah, too childish
For love is the span
Of the half-bestrung lyre
Of the language of man;
So she breathes the sun-song of the crocus, -- reveal it, repeat it, who can!





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