Nature

Flower god, god of the spring

by Robert Louis Stevenson 1850–1894

From New Poems (1918)

Nature

FLOWER god, god of the spring, beautiful, bountiful,
Cold-dyed shield in the sky, lover of versicles,
Here I wander in April
Cold, grey-headed; and still to my
Heart, Spring comes with a bound, Spring the deliverer,
Spring, song-leader in woods, chorally resonant;
Spring, flower-planter in meadows,
Child-conductor in willowy
Fields deep dotted with bloom, daisies and crocuses:
Here that child from his heart drinks of eternity:
O child, happy are children!
She still smiles on their innocence,
She, dear mother in God, fostering violets,
Fills earth full of her scents, voices and violins:
Thus one cunning in music
Wakes old chords in the memory:
Thus fair earth in the Spring leads her performances.
One more touch of the bow, smell of the virginal
Green—one more, and my bosom
Feels new life with an ecstasy.

MLA

Stevenson, Robert Louis. “Flower god, god of the spring.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/stevenson/218/.

Chicago

Stevenson, Robert Louis. “Flower god, god of the spring.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/stevenson/218/.

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