Pebbles and Shells (Hawkes collection)/Pictures on the Panes
PICTURES ON THE PANE
The frost gnomes came one Winter's nightWhile slumber held its grateful reign,And wrote upon my window pane;Then stole away with morning light.I sought to read the scroll arightYet had no art to understandThe meaning of so strange a hand;But when the morning sun grew bright,The picture melted into rainAnd then its mystery was plain.It was a symbol of man's years,That set in colors seeming fair,Beneath life's noonday heat and glareOft proves but vanity and tears.