A WINTER SCENE AND REFLECTIONS by JAMES HERVEY HYSLOP

To get at nature's finer nobler grace and power,
I wandered thoughtful in her healing loneliness,
To gather from her great enchanted, feeling heart
The warmth and heat of soul, the tenderness of love
That even winter life will not disturb or chill.

The pure white snow shone clear against the blue,
And purified alike the air, the wood, the sky,
And waiting for the balmy touch of spring to heal
The ravages of winter's frost. The sun arose
To gladden there, in joy, the life of man and God.

The gentle cooling wind was not enough to stir
The quiet pines or more than cause a sigh,
Or distant moan of music in their branches.
No home or troubled life of man or beast disturbed
The range of vision or the calm of day and night.

The vaulted sky, without a fleck or cloud of white,
Full calmly watched the silence and the passing joy
Of a reflective mood, that caught in fine embrace
The sheen of twinkling crystals in the waiting snow,
And tinctured every moment with its lovely memories.

And nature helped the thoughts that struggled there
For utterance, to get the prize in feeling only.
The storms of many hours rested from their toil,
The calmer regimen of resolute and stubborn faith
Kept mingled there the undertones of joy and grief.

And slumbering ideals, then, that shadowed hope
Or kept alive the spark of that eternal fire,
Still watch the sombre hues of fate and death,
To keep the springs of inspiration and of power
Where they may grow the bloom of happiness.

The resurrection of a brave and courageous will,
Or passion for the clear, sublimer path of God,
The tender melancholy joy of soul surrender,
May turn my sadder moments into a restful peace
Of mind and heart, a lumed light of all eternity.

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

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