Poems (Blake)/While Snows are falling

by Mary Elizabeth Blake

WHILE SNOWS ARE FALLING.

The springtime came, the springtime went,
 With shimmer of cloud and shiny weather;
The golden glory of June was spent,
 On hills and fields we roamed together;
We walked through autumn's purple haze,
 The future's dream of bliss forestalling,
And shuddering thought of winter days
      With snows a-falling.

For earth was all so wondrous fair,
 And heaven smiled down so blue above it,
Each wandering breath of balmy air
 But made us learn anew to love it;
What wonder if with all so bright,
 And wild birds through the woodland calling,
We sighed to think of winter's night
      While snows were falling.

But when at last the world was dressed
 In shining robes of ice-mail gleaming,
And calm white silence lulled to rest
 The pale, mute flowers beneath them dreaming,—
Behold! We woke to find made true
 The hope our hearts had been forestalling,
And life grew fairer than we knew,—
      While snows were falling.

Ah, well the days of youth fly fast,
 Their suns grow dim, their blossoms wither;
And many a dream that made our past,
 Flies fast and far, we know not whither;
But when we tread life's wintry slope
 We hear again their voices calling,
And Memory leads us back to Hope
      While snows are falling.