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Soon shall the winters foil be here;
Soon shall these icy ligatures unbind and melt A little while,
And air, soil, wave, suffused shall be in softness, bloom and
growth a thousand forms shall rise
From these dead clods and chills as from low burial graves.
Thine eyes, ears all thy best attributes all that takes cognizance
of natural beauty,
Shall wake and fill. Thou shalt perceive the simple shows, the
delicate miracles of earth,
Dandelions, clover, the emerald grass, the early scents and flow-
ers,
The arbutus under foot, the willows yellow-green, the blossom-
ing plum and cherry;
With these the robin, lark and thrush, singing their songs the
flitting bluebird;
For such the scenes the annual play brings on.
Ligature: In medicine, a ligature is a device, similar to a tourniquet, usually of thread or string, tied around a limb, blood vessel or similar to restrict blood flow. A ligature can be used for tumor strangulation, carried out before removal. The process of making ligatures is called “ligation”.
Suffuse:
* cause to spread or flush or flood through, over, or across; “The sky was suffused with a warm pink color”
* to become overspread as with a fluid, a colour, a gleam of light; “His whole frame suffused with a cold dew”
Clod: a lump of something, especially of earth or clay; a stupid person; a dolt
Arbutus: any of several evergreen shrubs of the genus Arbutus of temperate Europe and America.
Cognizance: An emblem, badge or device, used as a distinguishing mark by the body of retainers of a royal or noble house; Notice or awareness
Like many of the poems in the Second Annex this one seems to deal with life and death. He uses how nature goes through a natural cycle of life and death with the changes from spring to winter as a metaphor for what goes on in our lives. This is to say that even though we may die there will always be new life so that the annual play continues.