Page:Twilight Hours (1868).djvu/13

"And when drizzly dull November
Falls so gloomily o'er all,
And the misty fog enshrouds them
In a dim and dreary pall ;

' ' When the streets all fade to dreamland,
And the people follow fast,
And it seems as though the sunshine
Was for evermore gone past, —

" Then we glide among the housetops,
And we track the murky waste,
And we go about our business
With a cheerful earnest haste ;

" Not as though our food were plenty,
Or no dangers we might meet ;
But as though the work of living
Was a healthy work, and sweet.

" When the gentle snow descendeth,
Like a white and glistening shroud,
For the year whose life hath ended,
Floated upward like a cloud ;

"Then, although the open country
Shineth very bright and fair,
And the town is overclouded,
Yet we still continue there ;

" Even till the spring returneth,
Bringing with it brighter birds,
Unto whom the city people
Give their love and gentle words ;