Poems (Ripley)/In Winter

by Lillie Rosalie Ripley

IN WINTER

I would not change thy frosty winds for all the southern breezes;
I would not miss thy icebound lakes or forest's naked branches;
 I like to see the limbs of trees
 Glistening with ice, wave in the breeze
     In winter.

I like to see the frozen streams all decked in jewel-like splendor:
Where there are dainty festoons hung in fairy traceries,
 That shine and glisten in the sun.
 Like precious jewels every one
     In winter.

And merry skaters skim the ice, like birds across the heavens,—
Their merry laughter ringing out, their cheeks like glowing roses,—
 While in the heavens the sun shines cold,
 And clouds are gray flushed o'er with gold—
     In winter.

Let others seek for southern climes, when the Frost King approaches;
Let those who dread the chilling winds bask 'mong the southern blossoms;
 But let me linger where sleigh-bells
 Ring o'er the fields and frozen dells
     In winter.

I like to walk in the bracing air across the frozen meadows,—
Where frosty breezes sting the cheeks, and make them glow and tingle,—
 Where snowflakes pelt us like fair foes,
 And the snow like sifted silver glows
     In winter.