Spring — Summary

Tennyson’s “Spring” sounds like a playful nursery rhyme, but underneath it’s a love poem charged with desire and devotion. The opening lines flit between birdsong and human feeling, noting how birds’ love shifts with the weather — temporary, restless — while human love dares to be “once and forever.” Then the speaker stops observing nature and speaks directly to a golden-haired beloved, calling her “my wren with a crown of gold” and “queen of the wrens.” He imagines them literally becoming birds together, sharing a single nest, with him as her king. The mood is tender and light, full of smiling affection. Yet there’s a quiet intensity in how he transforms fleeting spring energy into a promise of lasting closeness. The poem feels like a private joke whispered between lovers — a folk-song charm that turns two people into a tiny, sovereign world.