 | Poems and verses by Mary Mapes Dodge |  |
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ENFOLDINGS.
The snowflake that softly, all night, is whitening treetop and pathway;
The avalanche suddenly rushing with darkness and death to the hamlet.
The avalanche suddenly rushing with darkness and death to the hamlet.
The ray stealing in through the lattice, to waken the day-loving baby;
The pitiless horror of light in the sun-smitten reach of the desert.
The pitiless horror of light in the sun-smitten reach of the desert.
The seed with its wondrous surprise of welcome young leaflet and blossom;
The despair of the wilderness tangle, and grim, taunting forest unending.
The despair of the wilderness tangle, and grim, taunting forest unending.
The happy west wind as it startles some noon-laden flower from its dreaming;
The hurricane crashing its way through the homes and the life of the valley.
The hurricane crashing its way through the homes and the life of the valley.
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The play of the jetlets of flame where the children laugh out on the hearthstone;
The town and the prairie enswirled in the glare of the red devastation.
The town and the prairie enswirled in the glare of the red devastation.
The glide of a wave on the sands with its myriad sparkle in breaking;
The roar and the fury of ocean, a limitless maelstrom of ruin.
The roar and the fury of ocean, a limitless maelstrom of ruin.
The leaping of heart unto heart with bliss that can never be spoken;
The passion that maddens, and blights the God-given love that enshrines us.
The passion that maddens, and blights the God-given love that enshrines us.
For this do I tremble and start when the rose on the vine taps my shoulder;
For this when the storm beats me down, my soul groweth bolder and bolder.
For this when the storm beats me down, my soul groweth bolder and bolder.
| Poems and verses by Mary Mapes Dodge | |