[I heard a bird sing in a leafless tree]
I heard a bird sing in a leafless tree
In bleak midwinter—and it gladdened me;
Sing out for joy that noon forbore to freeze,
Or one stray sunbeam struck adown the trees,
Some wintry greenness,—such a little thing
Had touched its heart to gratitude to sing:
The world was grey, the woods were bare and sad,
But I was better that the bird was glad:
And then I thought ways are that ever lie
Far off from summer in a clouded sky,
To seek the gladness, to accept the sign,
Might strike a light to darker lives than mine,
So seeking sing I in the wintry way,
So singing seek to gladden whom I may.
