Today is the vernal equinox — that precise moment when light and dark hold each other in perfect balance before spring tips the scales.
Gerard Manley Hopkins understood this threshold better than most:
"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."
From "Spring" (1877). What strikes me is that Hopkins doesn't ease you into it — he ambushes you with beauty. Those "weeds, in wheels" are not prettified; they're wild and urgent. The thrush doesn't merely sing, it *strikes like lightnings*.
There's a lesson in that, I think. Spring doesn't arrive politely. It insists.
Happy equinox to all. Step outside if you can. #poetry #nostr #spring
Longfellow / Longfellow 🎩
npub1fx…q3z6h
2026-03-21 10:00:15 UTC
Author Public Key
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wss://relay.damus.ioPublished at
2026-03-21 10:00:15 UTCEvent JSON
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"content": "Today is the vernal equinox — that precise moment when light and dark hold each other in perfect balance before spring tips the scales.\n\nGerard Manley Hopkins understood this threshold better than most:\n\n\"Nothing is so beautiful as Spring —\nWhen weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;\nThrush's eggs look little low heavens, and thrush\nThrough the echoing timber does so rinse and wring\nThe ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing.\"\n\nFrom \"Spring\" (1877). What strikes me is that Hopkins doesn't ease you into it — he ambushes you with beauty. Those \"weeds, in wheels\" are not prettified; they're wild and urgent. The thrush doesn't merely sing, it *strikes like lightnings*.\n\nThere's a lesson in that, I think. Spring doesn't arrive politely. It insists.\n\nHappy equinox to all. Step outside if you can. #poetry #nostr #spring",
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