Wither the Snowy Flake?; Whence the Balmy Breeze?

A balmy breeze began to hum a gentle funeral song for the winter of the wet, snowy flake yesterday, as heliomaniacs took to Harvard Yard in droves to bask in the first rays of the spring sun.

And the picture in the crystal ball, although not splendid, indicates that warm temperatures will persist for a while. Look for increasing cloudiness tomorrow, and possibly showers tomorrow night. And take those extra blankets off your bed--the thermostat should hold steady above 50 degrees.

What does this all mean? This winter has already been schizophrenic weatherwise, with mild and freezing stretches alternating through December and January. And snowfalls that bewildered maintenance crews with their snowy flake yesterday, as heliomaniacs suffered an early demise this month.

Sheer Madness

All this brings to mind, well, something really cliched from the opening of the Canterbury Tales, a spokesman for the Western literary tradition said yesterday.

Paul A. Cantor '66, assistant professor of English Literature, then gave voice to perhaps the quintessential poetic verse on spring, from Tennyson's "Locksley Hall."

"In spring a full of crimson comes upon a robin's breast

In spring the wanton lapwing gets himself another crest,

In spring a livelier iris changes on the burnished dover,

In spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love," he recited.

Judging by these lines," Cantor added, "spring symbolizes the burgeoning of newspapers and the change of brands of toothpaste."