By the road to the contagious hospital / under the surge of the blue / mottled clouds driven from the / northeast-a cold wind
-- Speaker (Lines 1 – 4)

Importance: These first lines of “Spring and All” are important because they introduce the setting of the poem – “the road to the contagious hospital.” This initial mention of the “contagious hospital” as well as natural elements like the “cold wind” suggest early on that the depiction of Springtime central to “Spring and All” is different from idealized traditional tropes of the season. The speaker prioritizes the observed reality of his Spring along the “road” rather than forcing what he sees to conform to those idealized tropes, even if the depiction he reveals to us ultimately reads as less comforting and cheery, without the clear optimistic promise of progression into warmer, better days.

leafless vines– // Lifeless in appearance, sluggish dazed spring approaches
-- Speaker (Lines 13 – 14)

Importance: The image of the “leafless vines” follows a long...