Come, all of you who are not satisfied
as rulers in a lone wallpapered room
full of mute birds and flowers that falsely bloom,
and closets choked with dreams that long ago died!

Come, let us sweep the old streets--like a bride;
sweep out the dead leaves with a relentless broom;
prepare for Spring, as if he were our groom
for whose light footstep eagerly we bide.

We'll sweep out the shadows, where the rats long fed;
sweep out our shame--and in its place we'll make
a bower for love, a splendid marriage-bed
fragrant with flowers aquiver for the Spring.
And when he comes, our murdered dreams shall wake;
and when he comes, all the mute birds shall sing,
and when he comes, all the mute birds shall sing.

 

"Prothalamium", which appeared in 1948 in Kramer's collection
The Thunder of the Grass, was set to music by Michael Sahl
and performed by Judy Collins on her 1970 recording
"Whales and Nightingales."


(I made slight changes in the above poem to accommodate
my memory of Judy Collins' rendition of this--fleur)

 

Artwork by Walter Crane , 1845-1915
"Summer, 1895"

(yes, I know this poem is about Spring,
but this artwork felt so appropriate)