Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A WALK THROUGH THE SNOW, by ALICE CARY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A WALK THROUGH THE SNOW, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: I walked from our wild north country once
Last Line: The warm, red cheeks inside!
Subject(s): Snow


I WALKED from our wild north country once,
In a driving storm of snow;
Forty and seven miles in a day --
You smile, -- do you think it slow?
You would n't if ever you had ploughed
Through a storm like that, I trow.

There was n't a cloud as big as my hand,
The summer before, in the sky;
The grass in th' meadows was ground to dust,
The springs and wells went dry;
We must have corn, and three stout men
Were picked to go and buy.

Well, I was one; two bags I swung
Across my shoulder, so!
And kissed my wife and boys, -- their eyes
Were blind to see me go.
'T was a bitter day, and just as th' sun
Went down, we met the snow!

At first we whistled and laughed and sung,
Our blood so nimbly stirred;
But as the snow-clogs dragged at our feet,
And the air grew black and blurred,
We walked together for miles and miles,
And did not speak a word!

I never saw a wilder storm:
It blew and beat with a will;
Beside me, like two men of sleet,
Walked my two mates, until
They fell asleep in their armor of ice,
And both of them stood still.

I knew that they were warm enough,
And yet I could not bear
To strip them of their cloaks; their eyes
Were open and a-stare;
And so I laid their hands across
Their breasts, and left them there.

And ran, -- O Lord, I cannot tell
How fast! in my dismay
I thought the fences and the trees --
The cattle, where they lay
So black against their stacks of snow --
All swam the other way!

And when at dawn I saw a hut,
With smoke upcurling wide,
I thought it must have been my mates
That lived, and I that died;
'T was heaven to see through th' frosty panes
The warm, red cheeks inside!





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