A tone poem on the changing of the seasons. The melting ice turns a clock that awakens a small gnome who sings a song ("Time for Spring") and wakes up many other gnomes. They set to work mining a wide assortment of colors which get crushed and boiled and ultimately sent to the surface in a complex system of pipes. The trees and flowers start to come to life, but old man winter has a storm still up his sleeve. His actions cause chaos underground; the gnomes redouble their efforts. Finally, with the help of one late arrival, they beat back winter.