Now is the perfect moment of the year. Half naked branches, half a mist of green,
Vivid and delicate the slopes appear; The cool, soft air is neither fierce nor keen,
And in the temperate sun we feel no fear; Of all the hours which shall be and have been,
It is the briefest as it is most dear, It is the dearest as the shortest seen.
O it was best, belovèd, at the first.— Our hands met gently, and our meeting
Was steady; on our senses scarce had burst The faint, fresh fragrance of the new delight. . .
I seek that clime, unknown, without a name, Where first and best and last shall be the same.
