Spring Fever

It is finally March, and despite the freak snow fall we had yesterday in Lexington, it feels like Spring is in the air.  Spring is by far my favorite season.  I am not really sure why, but it might have something to do with the fact that my birthday is March 20th, which marks the official start of this glorious season.  I am proud to share my birthday with noteworthy individuals such as Lois Lowry, the author of the classic children’s books The Giver and Number the Stars, as well as Mr. Rogers and Big Bird from Sesame Street.  In addition to this momentous occasion, Spring is also a time of rebirth and new beginnings.  The flowers are blooming, the sun is shining, and practically everything is green.  At the risk of sounding overly optimistic and Disney-esque, I should mention that early Spring is also a time of repentance and reflection.

This confluence of natural beauty and reflection always brings to mind one of the definitive Romantic poems, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth.  The Romantics are known for their obsession with man and his relationship with the natural landscape.  In “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” Wordsworth explores the beauty of nature recollected in solitary contemplation.

Quotes from Wordsworth’s famous poem float through my head as I walk through Washington and Lee’s beautiful campus.  I can’t pass by a bunch of daffodils in a neighbor’s yard without thinking of the lines “When all at once I saw a crowd;/A host of golden daffodils.”  Spring truly is a time to sit back, reflect, and bask in the awe-inspiring splendor of nature.

Are there other poems that sing Spring for you?


Senior at Washington and Lee University. Originally from Chattanooga, TN. Majoring in English.