| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 1047. It Is in Winter That We Dream of Spring |
| | | By Robert Burns Wilson |
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| IT is in Winter that we dream of Spring; | |
| For all the barren bleakness and the cold, | |
| The longing fancy sees the frozen mould | |
| Decked with sweet blossoming. | |
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| Though all the birds be silent,—though | 5 |
| The fettered stream’s soft voice be still, | |
| And on the leafless bough the snow | |
| Be rested, marble-like and chill,— | |
| Yet will the fancy build, from these, | |
| The transient but well-pleasing dream | 10 |
| Of leaf and bloom among the trees, | |
| And sunlight glancing on the stream. | |
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| Though, to the eye, the joyless landscape yields | |
| No faintest sign to which the hope might cling,— | |
| Amidst the pallid desert of the fields,— | 15 |
| It is in Winter that we dream of Spring. | |
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