Song III It Grew Up Without Heeding

Love is enough: it grew up without heeding       In the days when ye knew not its name nor its measure,       And its leaflets untrodden by the light feet of pleasure   Had no boast of the blossom, no sign of the seeding,       As the morning and evening passed over its treasure.   And what do ye say then?—That Spring long departed       Has brought forth no child to the softness and showers;       —That we slept and we dreamed through the Summer of flowers;   We dreamed of the Winter, and waking dead-hearted       Found Winter upon us and waste of dull hours.   Nay,

Spring was o'er-happy and knew not the reason,       And Summer dreamed sadly, for she thought all was ended       In her fulness of wealth that might not be amended;   But this is the harvest and the garnering season,       And the leaf and the blossom in the ripe fruit are blended.   It sprang without sowing, it grew without heeding,       Ye knew not its name and ye knew not its measure,       Ye noted it not mid your hope and your pleasure;   There was pain in its blossom, despair in its seeding,       But daylong your bosom now nurseth its treasure.