Poems (May)/December
For works with similar titles, see December.
DECEMBER.
Now through the distant vales the fawn's light foot Leaveth its cloven impress on the snow; The wood's soft echoes mock the baying hound; The hunter builds his watch-fire on the hills; The school-boy, from his morning task released, Shoulders the rifle, and goes blithely forth To start the dusky pheasant from her nest, Down in the ferny hollows. All day long There is a sound of muffled hoofs, half drowned By the quick sleigh-bell that rejoicingly Rings in the new-born monarch. All day long,The woodsman plies his sharp and sudden axe Under the crashing branches. Vale and mead, And steadfast wave lie stretched beneath my eye, Clad in one uniform livery. O'er the lake The skaters flit like shadows, and afar The wagoner plods beside his smoking team; The sportsman, followed by his frolic hound, Springs up the breezy hill-side. Save for these,All breathing life alike seems motionless.