Ah, Spring! That rejuvenating season when nature awakens, and poets find their muses in the blooming daffodils and the chirping of newborn birds. For literature enthusiasts who revel in the poetic celebration of Spring, here are three public domain poems that capture the essence of this vibrant season. 

1. “Loveliest of Trees” by A. E. Housman Housman’s poem is a tender reflection on the fleeting nature of life, framed by the blossoming of cherry trees. It’s a reminder to appreciate the beauty around us, as time is a swift current carrying us forward. 

Loveliests of trees, the cherry now 
Is hung with bloom along the bough, 
And stands about the woodland ride 
Wearing white for Eastertide. 

Now, of my threescore years and ten, 
Twenty will not come again, 
And take from seventy springs a score, 
It only leaves me fifty more. 

And since to look at things in bloom 
Fifty springs are little room, 
About the woodlands I will go 
To see the cherry hung with snow.

2. “Spring” by Edna St. Vincent Millay Millay’s “Spring” is a sharp contrast to the typical celebration of the season. She questions the purpose of Spring’s return, challenging the notion that beauty alone can quell the deeper, darker truths of existence. 

To what purpose, April, do you return again? 
Beauty is not enough. 
You can no longer quiet me with the redness 
Of little leaves opening stickily. 
I know what I know. 
The sun is hot on my neck as I observe 
The spikes of crocus. 
The smell of the earth is good. 
It is apparent that there is no death. 
But what does that signify? 
Not only underground are the brains of men 
Eaten by maggots. 
Life in itself 
Is nothing, 
An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs. 
It is not enough that yearly, down this hill, 
April 
Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers. 
 

3. “The Daffodils” by William Wordsworth Wordsworth’s classic poem is an ode to the joy and tranquility that nature’s beauty can bestow upon the soul. The sight of a host of golden daffodils becomes a cherished memory, a wellspring of delight in solitude. 

I wandered lonely as a cloud 
That floats on high o’er vales and hills, 
When all at once I saw a crowd, 
A host, of golden daffodils; 
Beside the lake, beneath the trees, 
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. 

Continuous as the stars that shine 
And twinkle on the Milky Way, 
They stretched in never-ending line 
Along the margin of a bay: 
Ten thousand saw I at a glance, 
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. 

The waves beside them danced, but they 
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: 
A Poet could not but be gay, 
In such a jocund company: 
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought 
What wealth the show to me had brought: 

For oft, when on my couch I lie 
In vacant or in pensive mood, 
They flash upon that inward eye 
Which is the bliss of solitude; 
And then my heart with pleasure fills, 
And dances with the daffodils.

So there you have it, dear readers—a trio of Springtime musings from the annals of poetry. Whether they inspire you to reflect, challenge, or simply enjoy, may these poems add a spring to your step and a bloom to your thoughts! 🌷 

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