“From the east a spring breeze is touching us,passing by,And so in the goblet in the green winetiny ripples are formed.The blossoms stolen by the whirlare falling to the earth.My fair girl will be drunken soonwith her blushed cheeks.Beside the blue pavilion the peach tree -Do you know, how long it will bloom?It’s a trembling shine, a dream:it cheats us and steals away.Rise and dance!The sun is fading!Who never was full of demanding liveand crazy in his young dayswill vainly - when the hairis white - sigh and wail.”

“I was in an empty field when I came across a tree. This tree was full of white blossoms and succulent cherries. The sun was shining and the breeze was blowing—everything was lovely. I looked back at the tree and its pure white blossoms were stained with blood. I gazed down in front of me, in horror, as a wooden cross marked the place of a small dirty mound.”

“The beauty of that June day was almost staggering. After the wet spring, everything that could turn green had outdone itself in greenness and everything that could even dream of blooming or blossoming was in bloom and blossom. The sunlight was a benediction. The breezes were so caressingly soft and intimate on the skin as to be embarrassing.”

“Oh, the meadows were gold and the sky so blue,I traveled down that pebble path I so well knew.The sun shined on down through trees so greenAnd I picked white flowers for which I was so keen.Oh sweet lilies of mine, the beauty you shine,Over hilltops and streams below,You bend in the breeze and bloom with ease,In the morning as the dew starts to glow…”

“Cease, man, to mourn, to weep, to wail;Enjoy thy shining hour of sun;We dance along Death's icy brink,But is the dance less full of fun?”

“I've seen spring come to the orchard every year as far back as I can remember and I've never grown tired of it. Oh, the wonder of it! The outrageous beauty! God didn't have to give us cherry blossoms you know. He didn't have to make apple trees and peach trees burst into flower and fragrance. But God just loves to splurge. He gives us all this magnificence and then, if that isn't enough, He provides fruit from such extravagance.”