CHALLENGE

The Spring has crowned the startled grass with light,

And lit each apple-tree with blooms of May,

Her footprints flowering through the silent night,

Show where she went her hurried, careless way...

A magic that awakens and goes by,

Too care-free to be bound, too fickle-fleet,

Leaves helpless legions staring at the sky,

Confronted with a later, sure defeat.

A bird, half-hid among the apple boughs,

Sings and sings on above the blossoming earth,

A high, clear music of eternal vows

To transient joy... and joy's eternal worth...

Above the certain wreck, this dauntless thing,

Caught up and hurled from ruined Spring to Spring.