IV
29 lines✦
s the sunshine quenches the snowshine; as April subdues thee, andyields up his kingdom to May;So time overcomes the regret that is born of delight as it passesin passion away,And leaves but a dream for desire to rejoice in or mourn for withtears or thanksgivings; but thou,Bright god that art gone from us, maddest and gladdest of months,to what goal hast thou gone from us now?For somewhere surely the storm of thy laughter that lightens, thebeat of thy wings that play,Must flame as a fire through the world, and the heavens that weknow not rejoice in thee: surely thy browHath lost not its radiance of empire, thy spirit the joy thatimpelled it on quest as for prey. V Are thy feet on the ways of the limitless waters, thy wings on thewinds of the waste north sea?Are the fires of the false north dawn over heavens where summer isstormful and strong like theeNow bright in the sight of thine eyes? are the bastions of icebergsassailed by the blast of thy breath?Is it March with the wild north world when April is waning? theword that the changed year saith,Is it echoed to northward with rapture of passion reiterate fromspirits triumphant as weWhose hearts were uplift at the blast of thy clarions as men'srearisen from a sleep that was deathAnd kindled to life that was one with the world's and with thine?hast thou set not the whole world free?
✦