The snow relents
to fields with new weeds
& a coronation of blossoming trees
Change moves before change
The river moves low in its bed again
Graces & nymphs go dancing nude
No hope for permanence,
hope for no permanence;
the hour knells the riven day;
the day falls into years
Stand warned.
The west wind softens the chill,
the spring wind will die
in burnt summer air
& summer crumbles
beneath time's measured beat;
The fruit strewn in the fall
& ice congeals the day again.
The Moon is immortal
though she die monthly in heaven,
but when we die
only a particular shadow survives
among our fathers.
Who knows if today's full cup
will overflow into the morning?
Who knows celestial intent?
The fingers of an heir
clutch at all men's hearts,
therefore enrich only the soul;
Once in hell
under blinding judgment
no noble ancestors, no piety, & no eloquence
will redeem you, Torquatus.
Shy Hippolytus is engraved in darkness
& no goddess in heaven can resurrect him,
nor can Theseus break
his dead friend's chains.