Spring-Tide

Lenten ys come with love to toune, With blosmen ant with briddes roune, That al this blisse bryngeth; Dayes-eyes in this dales, Notes suete of nyhtegales, Vch foul song singeth; The threstlecoc him threteth oo; Away is here wynter wo, When woderove springeth; This foules singeth ferly fele, And wlyteth on here winter wele, That al the wode ryngeth . . .

–Anonymous, 14th Century

Springtide

Lent has come with love to town, With blossoms and wild singers round, That all this rapture brings; Of daisies in the dales, Sweet notes of nightingales, Each joyous avian sings; The thrushes celebrate it so: "Away flies all our winter woe, When fragrant woodruff springs"; Their song they trill so tirelessly When April's welcome sun they see, That all the forest rings. . .

—Translated by Sr. Faith Bowman

Woodruff Blossoms