A Song of the Lilac

Above the wall that's broken, And from the coppice thinned, So sacred and so sweet The lilac in the wind! For when by night the May wind blows The lilac-blooms apart, The memory of his first love Is shaken on his heart. In tears it long was buried, And trances wrapt it round; Oh, how they wake it now, The fragrance and the sound! For when by night the May wind blows The lilac-blooms apart, The memory of his first love Is shaken on his heart.