O sweet spontaneous
  earth how often have
  the
  doting

                   fingers of
  prurient philosophers pinched
  and
  poked

   thee
  ,has the naughty thumb
  of science prodded
  thy

           beauty     how
  often have religions taken
  thee upon their scraggy knees
  squeezing and

  buffeting thee that thou mightest conceive
  gods
            (but
  true

  to the incomparable
  couch of death thy
  rhythmic
  lover

                 thou answerest


  them only with

                                 spring)

Nothing is so beautiful as spring—	
  When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;	
  Thrush’s eggs look little low heavens, and thrush	
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring	
The ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing;	
  The glassy peartree leaves and blooms, they brush	
  The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush	
With richness; the racing lambs too have fair their fling.	 	
What is all this juice and all this joy?	
  A strain of the earth’s sweet being in the beginning	
In Eden garden.—Have, get, before it cloy,	
  Before it cloud, Christ, lord, and sour with sinning,	
Innocent mind and Mayday in girl and boy,	
  Most, O maid's child, thy choice and worthy the winning.

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 under ground 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.