What does this quote mean? "Who hoarded from the spring branches the desires falling across their bodies like blossoms"

Your quotation comes from English poet Stephen Spender's 1928 poem "The Truly Great."  

The speaker begins the first stanza speaking of "the truly great," who were the ones who passed down knowledge of the spirit.  They, the truly great, are the ones "who hoarded from the Spring branches/The desires falling across their bodies like blossoms."  The speaker observes that the truly great were completely in tune with nature.

The speaker goes on to pay further...

Your quotation comes from English poet Stephen Spender's 1928 poem "The Truly Great."  

The speaker begins the first stanza speaking of "the truly great," who were the ones who passed down knowledge of the spirit.  They, the truly great, are the ones "who hoarded from the Spring branches/The desires falling across their bodies like blossoms."  The speaker observes that the truly great were completely in tune with nature.

The speaker goes on to pay further homage to the truly great, suggesting that their lives were short but burned vividly and that they are worthy of remembrance. Nature, in fact, remembers them and celebrates them with winds, waving grasses, and clouds that move through the sky. What makes the truly great worthy of remembrance is that they fully engaged in life and metaphorically had fire in their hearts.  They exemplified the human spirit and left a legacy for succeeding generations.