Now fades the last long streak of snow,
⁠Now burgeons every maze of quick
⁠About the flowering squares, and thick
By ashen roots the violets blow.

Now rings the woodland loud and long,
⁠The distance takes a lovelier hue,
⁠And drown'd in yonder living blue
The lark becomes a sightless song.

Now dance the lights on lawn and lea,
⁠The flocks are whiter down the vale,
⁠And milkier every milky sail
On winding stream or distant sea;

Where now the seamew pipes, or dives
⁠In yonder greening gleam, and fly
⁠The happy birds, that change their sky
To build and brood; that live their lives