To Spring by William Blake | Structure, Summary, Analysis

William Blake’s first published work was Poetical Sketches. It was a collection of 19 lyric poems grouped under the title "Miscellaneous Poems" written between 1769 and 1777 when Blake was 12 to 20 years old. In addition to the Miscellaneous Poems, the Illustrated book also contains a dramatic fragment (King Edward the Third), a prologue to another play in blank verse ('Prologue, Intended for a dramatic piece of King Edward the Fourth'), a prose poem prologue ('Prologue to King John'), a ballad ('A War Song to Englishmen') and three prose poems ('The Couch of Death', 'Contemplation', and 'Samson'). Poetical Sketches was published in 1783.
The first four poems of the collection are also known as the Season Songs and they are titled as To Spring, To Summer, To Autumn, and To Winter. These Season Songs are invocations to the four seasons that Blake developed in mythological figures in his later works.
These season songs can be interpreted as a reference to nature and arts but they also highlight sexual desire and fulfillment and to the different stages of human life and civilization.
The poem To Spring shows myriads of moods. One may find it hopeful and celebrating. However, as the poet describes the inevitable arrival and passage of the season, one may feel the deep existential depression hidden in the poem.
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