Poems (Cromwell)/Winter Poetry
WINTER POETRY
Lovers think that they alone possess A sense of beauty. They ascribe all graces To their love; seeing earth's wintry places Warmed and enchanted, they suppose and guess Their own illusion makes the loveliness. They dream their flame illumines the dim spaces Of the sky; they think the earth embracesNo charm but that their pleasure can express. Yet we, who shun romance, find beauty near; A stillness in the air when summer's gone; On the fine winter stem hang subtle fruits; We like to see the slender willow spear: We like red weeds and branches blackly drawn, And the white snow embroidered with brown roots.