The theme of The Return of Spring is Persephone returning from the underground. The setting is a contemporary view of Times Square showing a crowded sidewalk and a construction crew working by a subway entrance. Among the pedestrians is Persephone, as a girl emerging from the entrance carrying a bouquet of lilies (the model is the printmaker Joe Wilfer’s daughter, Anne - Joe appears as one of the workmen). Others in the crowd include architect Malcolm Holzman as Dante, and the artist Sondra Freckelton (the artist’s wife) as Flora, goddess of flowers. The artist himself appears as Poseidon, god of earthquakes, in the guise of a workman wielding a jackhammer (“Jack” hammer).