Page:Poems Thaxter.djvu/149

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INHOSPITALITY.
Down on the north wind sweeping
Comes the storm with roaring din;
Sadly, with dreary tumult,
The twilight gathers in.

The snow-covered little island
Is white as a frosted cake;
And round and round it the billows
Bellow, and thunder, and break.

Within doors the blazing drift-wood
Is glowing, ruddy and warm,
And happiness sits at the fire-side,
Watching the raging storm.

What fluttered past the window,
All weary and wet and weak,
With the heavily drooping pinions,
And the wicked, crooked beak?