How large that thrush looks on the bare thorn-tree! A swarm of such, three little months ago, Had hidden in the leaves and let none know Save by the outburst of their minstrelsy. A white flake here and there--a snow-lily Of last night's frost--our naked flower-beds hold; And for a rose-flower on the darkling mould The hungry redbreast gleams. No bloom, no bee. The current shudders to its ice-bound sedge: Nipped in their bath, the stark reeds one by one Flash each its clinging diamond in the sun: 'Neath winds which for this Winter's sovereign pledge Shall curb great king-masts to the ocean's edge And leave memorial forest-kings o'erthrown. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...NICHOLAS NYE by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE SOUND THE LOUD TIMBREL; MIRIAM'S SONG by THOMAS MOORE MARE LIBERUM by HENRY VAN DYKE THE LIVING BOOK by CHARLOTTE FISKE BATES A GIRL'S SONG IN THE WILDERNESS by ANNA HEMPSTEAD BRANCH THE RUBY THROAT by RUTH BUTLER BROWN MY UPPER SHELVES by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON OLD AND NEW; THE CENTURY ASSOCIATION, 1847-1897 by WILLIAM ALLEN BUTLER |