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.