The Poetical Works of Jonathan E. Hoag/The Snow and the Spring

by Jonathan E. Hoag

The Snow and the Spring

The peaceful snow lies deep and still
O'er darkling glen and wooded hill;
The purling brook has ceased to sing
Till prophet birds proclaim the spring.

From mountain crags the sweeping gale
Spreads fleecy flakes o'er hill and dale,
Which gather through the leaden day
Till crystal barriers bar the way.

Upon a robe of pearly white
The rising moon peers o'er yon height;
Then climbing to the skies above,
Beams proudly o'er each jewelled grove.

The sleeping rose beneath the snow
Awaits the springtime's future glow,
When in the year's resplendent morn
Its petals may again be born.

And as the months of silence pass,
There come the timid blades of grass;
Bees gaily hum from flower to flower,
And April dawns, with sun and shower.

The birds, the blossoms, and the earth,
Hail once again the annual birth;
The melting brook resumes its song,
While by its banks the Naiads throng.

Welcome, ye breezy breaths of May,
When apple-blooms o'erhang the way!
We seek their shade at sultry noon,
Or through them watch the evening moon.

In grassy glades and twining bowers
The blithsome children seek for flowers;
Faun-like they trip on airy feet,
And gambol, innocent and sweet.

O happy childhood, free from care!
How like the springtide's own gay air
Triumphant youth untroubled reigns,
And morning gladness lights the plains.

Now let all Nature's charms awake,
Whilst hungry souls of life partake;
And let our mortal throng below
"Praise Him from Whom all blessings flow!"

1920