Poems (Jackson)/February
For works with similar titles, see February.
TILL. lie the sheltering snows, undimmed and white;And reigns the winter's pregnant silence still;No sign of spring, save that the catkins fill,And willow stems grow daily red and bright.These are the days when ancients held a riteOf expiation for the old year's ill,And prayer to purify the new year's will:Fit days, ere yet the spring rains blur the sight,Ere yet the bounding blood grows hot with haste,And dreaming thoughts grow heavy with a greedThe ardent summer's joy to have and taste;Fit days, to give to last year's losses heed,To reckon clear the new life's sterner need;Fit days, for Feast of Expiation placed!
FEBRUARY.
TILL. lie the sheltering snows, undimmed and white;And reigns the winter's pregnant silence still;No sign of spring, save that the catkins fill,And willow stems grow daily red and bright.These are the days when ancients held a riteOf expiation for the old year's ill,And prayer to purify the new year's will:Fit days, ere yet the spring rains blur the sight,Ere yet the bounding blood grows hot with haste,And dreaming thoughts grow heavy with a greedThe ardent summer's joy to have and taste;Fit days, to give to last year's losses heed,To reckon clear the new life's sterner need;Fit days, for Feast of Expiation placed!