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A WINTRY SCENE.
OW silently, all wrapped in robe of snow,Earth seems to sleep beneath yon cloudless sky,
Blue, bright, and beautiful, as if the glow
Of Summer basked beneath that smiling sun,
And not the form of Winter's sternest hour.
For see! or far or near the eye can meet
No touch of Nature's softer hues,—no spot
Of spring-time verdure near,—but all around
In dazzling whiteness spreads the untrodden snow,
"One boundless waste, cold, calm, and motionless,
But still most beautiful. There diamond sparks,
Like those that glitter on the moonlight wave,
Besprinkle o'er the plains of stainless snow,
That seem, as there they shine in changeful hues,
The magic pavement of some fairy hall,
Frost, too, her wizard ministry hath lent,
And hung each lowly shrub or towering tree
With glittering wreaths of many an airy form,
And pendent crystals, bright, fantastic, pure
As those that gleam beneath dark ocean's caves,
'Tis Winter's loveliest, though his sternest hour:
The very keenness of the piercing air
