 | Longfellow's boyhood poems |  |
WINTER
[Mr. Shirley—the following effusion was handed to me by a friend, and I now offer it to you for an insertion in your Gazette. It has some faults, but is the production of a youthful muse and therefore I hope its imperfections will be overlooked.—
Yours, &c. Amicus.]Autumn has fled; and hoary Winter now
O'er hill and dale has spread his drear domain,
Covering with fleecy snow the fertile plain.
With piercing storms the winds tempestuous blow
And block the way. The streams refuse to flow—
Ev'n Nature's self, close bound with icy chain,
With meek submission, owns stern Winter's reign.
Congeal'd before the frown of his dark threat'ning brow—
And ah! how hard the helpless wanderer's lot
Who roams alone upon some hostile strand,
And sighs to tread once more his native land,
To meet those friends by memory ne'er forgot,
And hail, yet once again, that fertile spot,
Where Friendship binds him with her strongest band.
H.
January 22, 1821
| Longfellow's boyhood poems | |