Fides, Spes by Willa Cather

One Poem Only · May 19, 2025 · 1m

Fides, Spes

Willa Cather 1873 – 1947

Joy is come to the little

Everywhere;

Pink to the peach and pink to the apple,

White to the pear.

Stars are come to the dogwood,

Astral, pale;

Mists are pink on the red-bud,

Veil after veil.

Flutes for the feathery locusts,

Soft as spray;

Tongues of the lovers for chestnuts, poplars,

Babbling May.

Yellow plumes for the willows’

Wind-blown hair;

Oak trees and sycamores only

Comfortless bare.

Sore from steel and the watching,

Somber and old,—

Wooing robes for the beeches, larches,

Splashed with gold;

Breath o’ love to the lilac,

Warm with noon.—

Great hearts…