A WINTER DAY I

THE air is silent save where stirs

A bugling breeze among the firs;

The virgin world in white array

Waits for the bridegroom kiss of day; All heaven blooms rarely in the cast Where skies are silvery and fleeced, And o’er the orient hills made glad

The morning comes in wonder clad; Oh, ’tis a time most fit to see

How beautiful the dawn can be!

II

Wide, sparkling fields snow-vestured lie Beneath a blue, unshadowed sky;

A glistening splendor crowns the woods And bosky, whistling solitudes;

In hemlock glen and reedy mere

The tang of frost is sharp and clear; Life hath a jollity and zest,

A poignancy made manifest;

Laughter and courage have their way At noontide of a winter’s day.