At last. The winds have abated. The floods are receding. We
have snowdrops. And the first blossom on the trees. Glimpses of what I take to
be the sun. At last.
Shine out,
fair Sun, with all your heat,
Show all your thousand-coloured light!
Black Winter freezes to his seat;
The grey wolf howls, he does so bite;
Crookt Age on three knees creeps the street;
The boneless fish close quaking lies
And eats for cold his aching feet;
The stars in icicles arise:
Shine out, and make this winter night
Our beauty's Spring, our Prince of Light!
George Chapman (c.1559‒1634) from
"The Masque of the Twelve Months". Set by Benjamin Britten as the
Introduction to his Spring Symphony of 1949.
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