The lilac's incomparably scented blooms herald the first truly warm weather of the year. Reappearing faithfully season after season, from one generation to the next, these pale lavender blossoms are an evocative link to the past.

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We'll Gather Lilacs

Although you're far away
And Life is sad and grey
I have a scheme, a dream to try
I'm thinking, dear of you
And all I mean to do
When we're together you and I
We'll soon forget our care and pain
And find such lovely things to share again.

Refrain:
We'll gather lilacs in the spring again
And walk together down an English lane
Until our hearts have learned to sing again
When you come home once more
And in the evening by the firelight's glow
You'll hold me close and never let me go.
Your eyes will tell me all I want to know
When you come home once more.

We'll learn to love anew
The simple joys we knew
And shared together night and day
We'll watch without a sigh
The moments speeding by
When life is free and hearts are gay
My dream is here for you to share
And in my heart my dream becomes a prayer.

Words and music by Ivor Novello

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Lilacs Again

A bridge of lilacs crosses the brook
that runs out of childhood,
as if childhood were a spring and not

a thirst. Cold water, fast water,
ache of that cold, remembering.

That quenching. An outdoor museum--
that's my childhood. Lilacs so thick
you can hear the bees from far away.

Thick with scent, thick with bees,
all drowned in the noise of the brook.

What did I mean, "a bridge of lilacs"?
That their branches touched each other
over the water? That their dark perfume

could take me back--take me
and never bring me back?

~~Chase Twichell~~