1 From you have I been absent in the spring,
I have been away from you during the springtime I was away from you when spring came around i was gone
in the spring
away from you
2 When proud-pied April (dressed in all his trim)
When colorful April arrived, decked out in all its finest decorations When April showed up, all dressed up in its most beautiful colors april dressed up
all fancy
multicolor spring Wordplay: “proud-pied April / dressed in all his trim”
April is personified in vibrant, multi-colored (pied) finery, yet even this glory cannot move the speaker because it's derivative of the beloved's beauty.
3 Hath put a spirit of youth in every thing:
Has filled everything with a youthful, vibrant energy Has made everything feel young and full of life and energy youth energy
in everything
all alive
4 That heavy Saturn laughed and leaped with him.
So that even Saturn, symbol of age and gravity, laughed and danced with joy So that even the oldest, heaviest things seemed to rejoice and jump around even old stuff
laughed and danced
everything alive
5 Yet nor the lays of birds, nor the sweet smell
Yet neither the songs of birds nor the sweet fragrance Yet the song of the birds meant nothing to me, and neither did the sweet smell birds singing?
sweet smells?
didn't matter
6 Of different flowers in odour and in hue,
Of all those different flowers in their varied scents and colors Of all those different flowers with all their perfumes and beautiful shades flowers
sweet smells
bright colors
7 Could make me any summer’s story tell:
Could make me tell any joyful story or feel any joy at all Could make me feel happy or inspired to celebrate anything couldn't make me happy
no story to tell
nothing
8 Or from their proud lap pluck them where they grew:
Or make me pick them from the garden where they grew Or make me want to pick the flowers and enjoy them where they grew couldn't pick flowers
wouldn't want to
empty
Volta Moves from describing spring's failure to awaken joy to the revelation that the beloved is the archetype of all beauty; all else is derivative.
9 Nor did I wonder at the lily’s white,
Nor did I marvel at the lily's pure white color And I didn't even notice how beautifully white the lilies were lilies white?
didn't notice
who cares
10 Nor praise the deep vermilion in the rose,
Nor did I admire the deep red color in the rose And I didn't care about how gorgeously red the roses were roses red?
so what
not impressed
11 They were but sweet, but figures of delight: They were but sweet, but figures of delight
They were merely pleasant, mere images of what could delight They were just pretty things, just pretty images, nothing more just pretty
just images
meant nothing
12 Drawn after you, you pattern of all those. Drawn after you, you pattern of all those
Mere copies of you, you who are the perfect model of all beauty Just copies of you - you're the only real beauty that matters they copy you
you're the real deal
the perfect one
13 Yet seemed it winter still, and you away, Yet seemed it winter still, and you away
Yet it still felt like winter to me, with you gone And yet it felt like winter to me the whole time, because you weren't there felt like winter
you gone
no matter the season
14 As with your shadow I with these did play.
As if I played with just your shadow while surrounded by real flowers As if I was playing with just your shadow while playing with these flowers played with your shadow
not the real you
just pretending Wordplay: “shadow / with these did play”
The speaker plays with the beloved's shadow using flowers—all simulation, all second-order. Real presence and genuine play are impossible without the beloved.