Hooray for spring!

I remember reading this poem in my Comparative Literature class in college and thought I'd share it.  It's a beautiful spring day here in Korea--about 75 degrees, everything is blossoming in shades of green, and the yellow dust is gone! Enjoy.


Spring and all its flowers by Hafiz


Spring and all its flowers
now joyously break their vow of silence. 
It is time for celebration, not for lying low;
You too - weed out those roots of sadness from your heart.


The east wind arrives;
and in deep resonance, the flower
passionately rips open its garments, 
thrusting itself from itself.


The Way of Truth, learn from the clarity of water,
Learn freedom from the spreading grass.


Pay close attention to the artistry of the east wind, 
that wafts in pollen from afar, 
And ripples the beautiful tresses
of the fields of hyacinth flowers. 


From the privacy of the harem, the virgin bud slips out,
revealing herself under the morning star,
branding your heart and your faith
with beauty.


And frenzied bulbul flies madly out of the House of Sadness
to unite with the flowers;
its love-crazed cry like a thousand-trumpet blast.