University of Virginia Library


69

TO THE FIRST SNOW-DROP.

Emblem of purity, gracefully lifting,
Petals of beauty 'mid wintry snows drifting,
Brave little snow-drop, so fair and so hardy,
First flower to welcome the Spring chill and tardy;
Frost cannot wither thee, cold cannot frighten,
Patiently tarrying till skies may brighten!
Snow-piercer, cloud-gazer, wind-scorner, eye-cheerer,
Bring, bring to this heart thy dear message yet nearer!
When age or sorrow is darkly impending,
Snows of adversity thickly descending,
Then springing out of them, checked by no blasting,
Let there bloom thoughts of the life everlasting!
Coming like snow-drops, amid our endurance,
Bringing to each weary heart the assurance
To joy's frozen waste Spring draws nigher and nigher,
And Death is the way to life higher and higher.
Jan. 1864.