 | The poems of Richard Henry Stoddard |  |
THE FIRST SNOW.
To-day has been a pleasant day,
Despite the cold and snow;
A sabbath stillness filled the air,
And pictures slumbered everywhere,
Around, above, below.
Despite the cold and snow;
A sabbath stillness filled the air,
And pictures slumbered everywhere,
Around, above, below.
We woke at dawn, and saw the trees
Before our windows white;
Their limbs were clad with snow, like bark,
Save that the under sides were dark,
Like bars against the light.
Before our windows white;
Their limbs were clad with snow, like bark,
Save that the under sides were dark,
Like bars against the light.
The fence was white around the house,
The lamp before the door;
The porch was glazed with pearlèd sleet,
Great drifts lay in the silent street,
The street was seen no more.
The lamp before the door;
The porch was glazed with pearlèd sleet,
Great drifts lay in the silent street,
The street was seen no more.
Long trenches had been roughly dug,
And giant footprints made;
But few were out, the streets were bare,
I saw but one pale wanderer there,
And he was like a shade.
And giant footprints made;
But few were out, the streets were bare,
I saw but one pale wanderer there,
And he was like a shade.
I seemed to walk another world,
Where all was still and blest:
The cloudless sky, the stainless snows—
It was a vision of repose,
A dream of heavenly rest:
Where all was still and blest:
98
It was a vision of repose,
A dream of heavenly rest:
A dream the holy night completes,
For now the moon hath come,
I stand in heaven with folded wings,
A free and happy soul that sings
When all things else are dumb!
For now the moon hath come,
I stand in heaven with folded wings,
A free and happy soul that sings
When all things else are dumb!
| The poems of Richard Henry Stoddard | |