Sonnet

These rugged wintry days I scarce could bear,
Did I not know that in the early spring,
When wild March winds upon their errands sing,
Thou wouldst return, bursting on this still air,
Like those same winds, when, startled from their lair,
They hunt up violets and free swift brooks
From icy cares, even as thy clear looks
Bid my heart bloom and sing and break all care:
When drops with welcome rain the April day,
My flowers shall find their April in thine eyes;
But there the rain in dreamy clouds doth stay,
As loath to fall out of those happy skies;
And sure, my love, thou art most like to May,
That comes, with steady sun, when April dies.

Where this text comes from

First published in The Poems of Maria Lowell (1907). First located printing is this volume; an earlier periodical printing has not been established. [1]

Structure read from the source's markup; the words have not been compared against a page scan. Last checked 2026-08-20.

Taken from Standard Ebooks, standardebooks/maria-lowell_poetry, poetry.xhtml. Rights: public domain (SE dedication; underlying text pre-1931).

Earlier sources (2)

This poem as JSON or plain text. Line anchors #L1–#L14.

Cite this poem

Maria Lowell (1821–1853). “Sonnet.” First published in The Poems of Maria Lowell (1907). Text: Poem Index, https://poemindex.org/maria-lowell/sonnet/. Append #L14 to cite line 14, or #L4-L9 for lines 4–9.

More by Maria Lowell