06 November 2013

Snow - An 1853 Poem

By Wm. Gland Bourne.
In flakes of feathery white,
It was falling so gently and slow,
Oh, pleasant to me is the sight,
Of the silently falling snow,
Snow, snow, snow,
The fall of the feathery snow!
 
The earth is all covered to-day
With a mantle of radiant snow,
And it sparkles and shines in the ray,
In crystals of glittering snow,
Snow, snow, snow,
The sparkling and glistening snow!
 
It covers the earth from the cold!
Would you think, little Ella, it's so?
And when it comes down on the mould,
It's only a warm coat of snow!
Snow, snow, snow!
The curious warm coat of snow!
 
From my window the snow-birds I see!
The hop and they flirt as they go!
And they speak of a lesson to me
While they feed in the beautiful snow!
Snow, snow, snow,
Happy birds that delight in the snow!
 
The trees have a burden of white,
They stretch out their branches I know!
And filled their green arms in the night,
To play in the sunbeam with snow!
Snow, snow, snow!
The trees with their branches all curling with snow!
 
How spotless it seems and how pure!
I wish that my spirit were so!
And that while my soul shall endure
It might shine far more bright than the snow!
Snow, snow, snow!
Were my heart but as pure and bright as the snow!
 
It shall go with the breath of spring,
And down to the river shall flow!
And the summer again shall bring
Bright flowers for the silvery snow!
Snow, snow, snow!
Bright flowers shall bloom on the grave of the snow.
February 17, 1853. Vermont Watchman and State Journal 47(13): 1. From the Little Silverstring.