Fantastic quotes and where to find them

Actually, ‘Fantastic quotes, poems, and excerpts and where to find them’, but that didn’t seem catchy enough. I tried to collect quotes only but included excerpts from poems as well because I loved them so much that I couldn’t help but share them. I have also included links to the poems, so you can read them in their entirety if you wish. I hope you find something that inspires you. Enjoy!

I think the pale blue clouds of May

Drop down, and turn to flowers! ~ Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Extract from ‘The bluebells of New England’

When wintry weather's all done,

An' brooks do sparkle in the zun,

An' naisy-builden rooks do vlee

Wi' sticks toward their elem tree;

When birds do zing,'we can zee

Upon the boughs the buds o' spring,

Then I'm as happy as a king.

A-vield wi' health an' zunsheen. ~ William Barnes, Extract from ‘The Spring’ in the original Dorset dialect

WHAT did springtime -time whisper?

O ye rivulets,

Waking from your trance is so sad.

Pleased to welcome fisher-lad

With his little nets,

Speed, for summer's in the air,

Prattle, for the breeze is warm.

Chatter by the otter's lair,

Bubble past the ivied farm;

Wake the primrose on the banks,

Bid the violet open her eyes,

Hurry in a flood of thanks

Underneath, serene skies!

What a revel's coming soon?

Fairies trooping over the leas,

Making magic by the moon,

Crowned with wood anemones!

What a haunted heart the thrush

Nurses in the blackthorn bush,

Full of splendid songs to sing,

Cheery welcomes of the Spring—Spring has come! ~ Norman Rowland Gale, ‘Spring'

Listen to the trees talking in their sleep,’ she whispered, as he lifted her to the ground. ‘What nice dreams they must have!” L.M. Montgomery, ‘Anne of Green Gables

The sun was pouring in slanting rays through the blinds and there was something so joyous in the sight of it that she jumped out of bed and ran to the window. She drew up the blinds and opened the window itself and a great waft of fresh, scented air blew in upon her. The moor was blue and the whole world looked as if something magical had happened to it. There were tender little fluting sounds here and there and everywhere, as if scores of birds were beginning to tune up for a concert. Mary put her hand out of the window and held it in the sun. ~ Frances Hodgson Burnett, ‘The Secret Garden’

I COME , I come! You have called me long,

I come out of the mountains with light and song!

You may trace my step on the wakening earth.

By the winds which tell of the violet's birth,

By the primrose-stars in the shadowy grass,

By the green leaves, opening as I pass.

I have looked over the hills of the stormy north.

And the larch has hung all his tassels forth,

The fisher is out on the sunny sea.

And the reindeer bounds o'er the pastures free,

And the pine has a fringe of softer green.

And the moss looks bright where my foot has been. ~ Felicia Dorothea Hemans, Extract from ‘The Voice of Spring'

“Spring is the time of year when it is summer in the sun and winter in the shade.” ~ Charles Dickens, Great Expectations.

“Do you remember the Shire, Mr. Frodo? It'll be spring soon. And the orchards will be in bloom. And the birds will be nesting in the hazel thicket. And they'll be sowing the summer barley in the lower fields... and eating the first of the strawberries with cream. Do you remember the taste of strawberries?” ~ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King