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Home  »  The Book of the Sonnet  »  Mrs. Mary Noel McDonald

Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867.

IV. The First Snow

Mrs. Mary Noel McDonald

THY MANTLE white is on the senseless earth,

Spirit of Winter; old Æolus rude

Pipes from his northern home in fiercest mood;

And o’er the crispéd wreaths with shouts of mirth,

And chiming bells, and laughter ringing free,

Glides the swift sleigh; while merry urchins play,

Tossing the frozen balls in heart-felt glee,

Or forming uncouth shapes of monsters grim,

To melt like youthful hopes, when next the ray

Of noontide streams on each misshapen limb.

The naked branches wear a spotless vest;

While through the window infant faces peep,

Lured from their downy beds and early sleep,

Wondering to mark the earth in wintry garments drest.