Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE WALKER OF THE SNOW, by CHARLES DAWSON SHANLY Poet's Biography First Line: Speed on, speed on, good master! Last Line: Of the walker of the snow! Subject(s): Mysticism | ||||||||
Speed on, speed on, good Master! The camp lies far away; We must cross the haunted valley Before the close of day. How the snow-blight came upon me I will tell you as I go, -- The blight of the Shadow-hunter Who walks the midnight snow. To the cold December heaven Came the pale moon and the stars, As the yellow sun was sinking Behind the purple bars. The snow was deeply drifted Upon the ridges drear, That lay for miles around me And the camps for which we steer. 'T was silent on the hill-side, And by the solemn wood, No sound of life or motion To break the solitude, Save the wailing of the moose-bird With a plaintive note and low, And the skating of the red leaf Upon the frozen snow. And said I, "Though dark is falling, And far the camp must be, Yet my heart it would be lightsome If I had but company." And then I sang and shouted, Keeping measure, as I sped, To the harp-twang of the snow-shoe As it sprang beneath my tread. Nor far into the valley Had I dipped upon my way, When a dusky figure joined me, In a capuchon of gray, Bending upon the snow-shoes, With a long and limber stride; And I hailed the dusky stranger As we travelled side by side. But no token of communion Gave he by word or look, And the fear-chill fell upon me, At the crossing of the brook. For I saw by the sickly moonlight As I followed, bending low, That the walking of the stranger Left no footmarks on the snow. Then the fear-chill gathered o'er me, Like a shroud around me cast, As I sank upon the snow-drift Where the Shadow-hunter passed. And the other trappers found me, Before the break of day, With my dark hair blanched and whitened As the snow in which I lay. But they spoke not as they raised me; For they knew that in the night I had seen the Shadow-hunter And had withered in his blight. Sancta Maria speed us! The sun is falling low, Before us lies the valley, Of the Walker of the Snow! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE DIAMOND PERSONA by NORMAN DUBIE OUTWARD BOUND by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN by ROBERT BROWNING ECHO AND SILENCE by SAMUEL EGERTON BRYDGES THE BALLAD OF JUDAS ISCARIOT by ROBERT WILLIAMS BUCHANAN KUBLA KHAN by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE RHOECUS by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL CIVIL WAR by CHARLES DAWSON SHANLY |
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