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55

THE GREENLANDER TO HIS DEAD REINDEER;

WRITTEN IN EARLY YOUTH.

Christmas, 1821.
Nevermore on hills of snow
Shall we two together go,
My Reindeer;
Nevermore the snow thou'lt paw,
All in haste my sledge to draw,
My Reindeer.
Nevermore along the bright
Snowy wildernesses white,
By the dazzling Northern light,
Shall we homeward go at night,
My Reindeer.

56

Underneath the snow full deep
Long ago my children sleep;—
I could not their mother keep;—
When they went I did but weep,
My Reindeer;
Then together thou and I
Slid along full merrily,
When the sun was in the sky,
When the lights were dancing high;—
Now all stiff I see thee lie,
What have I to do but die,
My Reindeer.
 

The two last stanzas have been added since.