Nothing is so beautiful as spring—

When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;
Thrush's eggs look little low heavens, and thrush
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring
The ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing;
The glassy peartree leaves and blooms, they brush
The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush
With richness; the racing lambs too have fair their fling.

---By Gerard Manley Hopkins

Plum flowers in full bloom in East China's Anhui province on March 18, 2012. [Photo/Asianewsphoto]