The Meadows in Spring

'Tis a dull sightTo see the year dying,When winter windsSet the yellow wood sighing:Sighing, oh! sighing.5

When such a time cometh,I do retireInto and old roomBeside a bright fire:Oh, pile a bright fire!10

And there I sitReading old things,Of knights and lorn damsels,While the wind sings⁠—Oh, drearily sings!15

I never look outNor attend to the blast;For all to be seenIs the leaves falling fast:Falling, falling!20

But close at the hearth,Like a cricket, sit I,Reading of summerAnd chivalry⁠—Gallant chivalry!25

Then with an old friendI talk of our youth!How 'twas gladsome, but oftenFoolish, forsooth:But gladsome, gladsome!30

Or to get merryWe sing some old rhyme,That made the wood ring againIn summertime⁠—Sweet summertime!35

Then go we to smoking,Silent and snug:Nought passes between us,Save a brown jug⁠—Sometimes!40

And sometimes a tearWill rise in each eye,Seeing the two old friendsSo merrily⁠—So merrily!45

And ere to bedGo we, go we,Down on the ashesWe kneel on the knee,Praying together!50

Thus, then, live I,Till, 'mid all the gloom,By heaven! the bold sunIs with me in the roomShining, shining!55

Then the clouds part,Swallow soaring between;The spring is alive,And the meadows are green!

I jump up, like mad,60Break the old pipe in twain,And away to the meadows,The meadows again!