The First Spring Day
The speaker wonders whether sap, birds and flowers are waking to spring, and whether the heart and spirit will share the world's renewal. Confidence that spring must return leads to a plea for its song to continue until the speaker too can blossom and rejoice, in this world or the world to come.
By Christina Georgina Rossetti · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Nature Poetry, Meditative Poetry · 205 words
First lines
I wonder if the sap is stirring yet, / If wintry birds are dreaming of a mate, / If frozen snowdrops feel as yet the sun / And crocus fires are kindling one by one: / Sing, robin, sing! / I still am sore in doubt concerning Spring.
I wonder if the spring-tide of this year / Will bring another Spring both lost and dear; / If heart and spirit will find out their Spring, / Or if the world alone will bud and sing: / Sing, hope, to me! / Sweet notes, my hope, soft notes for memory.
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — A first-person speaker voices doubt, memory and hope in three rhymed stanzas, each containing an appeal to sing.
- Nature Poetry — Stirring sap, birds seeking mates, snowdrops and crocuses mark the anticipated return of spring.
- Meditative Poetry — The speaker questions whether seasonal renewal will reach the heart and spirit, then looks toward rejoicing in this world or the world to come.
Tags
spring · seasonal renewal · birdsong · flowers · hope · memory
What this Textopian page supports
The First Spring Day is listed on Textopian as a poem by Christina Georgina Rossetti, dated Date unknown.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Christina Georgina Rossetti
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Nature Poetry, Meditative Poetry
- Length: 205 words
- Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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- Work identity for The First Spring Day by Christina Georgina Rossetti
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