Sweethearts of the Year

Sweetheart Spring         Our Sweetheart, Spring, came softly,         Her gliding hands were fire,         Her lilac breath upon our cheeks         Consumed us with desire.         By her our God began to build,         Began to sow and till.         He laid foundations in our loves         For every good and ill.         We asked Him not for blessing,         We asked Him not for pain -         Still, to the just and unjust         He sent His fire and rain.                 Sweetheart Summer         We prayed not, yet she came to us,         The silken, shining one,         On Jacob's noble ladder         Descended from the sun.         She reached our town of Every Day,         Our dry and dusty sod -         We prayed not, yet she brought to us         The misty wine of God.                 Sweetheart Autumn         The woods were black and crimson,         The frost-bit flowers were dead,         But Sweetheart Indian Summer came         With love-winds round her head.         While fruits God-given and splendid         Belonged to her domain:         Baskets of corn in perfect ear         And grapes with purple stain,         The treacherous winds persuaded her         Spring Love was in the wood         Altho' the end of love was hers -         Fruition, Motherhood.                 Sweetheart Winter         We had done naught of service         To win our Maker's praise.         Yet Sweetheart Winter came to us         To gild our waning days.         Down Jacob's winding ladder         She came from Sunshine Town,         Bearing the sparkling mornings         And clouds of silver-brown;         Bearing the seeds of Springtime.         Upon her snowy seas         Bearing the fairy star-flowers         For baby Christmas trees.