ITYLUS. O sweet stray sister, O shifting swallow, Thy heart is light as a leaf of a tree; O swallow, sister, O rapid swallow, Are not the roofs and the lintels wet? O sister, sister, thy first-begotten! The hands that cling and the feet that follow, A. C. Swinburne. 147 148 SUMMER-TIME. SUMMER-TIME. WHAT is so rare as a day in June? Then Heaven tries the earth, if it be in tune, An instinct within it that reaches and towers, Thrilling back over woodlands and valleys; The buttercup catches the sun in its chalice, With the deluge of summer it receives; And the heart in her dumb breast flutters and sings; And whatever of life hath ebbed away Into every bare inlet and creek and bay; WINTER-TIME. Now the heart is so full that a drop o'erfills it, The breeze comes whispering in our ear That maize has sprouted, that streams are flowing, That the river is bluer than the sky, That the robin is plastering his house hard by; And if the breeze kept the good news back For other couriers we should not lack; We could guess it all by yon heifer's lowingAnd hark! how clear bold chanticleer, Warmed with the new wine of the year, Tells all in his lusty crowing! James Russell Lowell. WINTER-TIME. Down swept the chill wind from the mountain-peak, On open wold and hill-top bleak It had gathered all the cold, And whirled it like sleet on the wanderer's cheek; From the unleafed boughs and pastures bare; 149 150 WINTER-TIME. Slender and clear were his crystal spars For the gladness of Heaven to shine through; and here And hung them thickly with diamond drops No mortal builder's most rare device 'Twas as if ev'ry image that mirrored lay J. R. Lowell. CHRISTMAS CAROL. 151 CHRISTMAS CAROL. OUTLANDERS, whence come ye last? The snow in the street and the wind on the door. Through what green seas and great have ye past? Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor. From far away, O masters mine, The snow in the street and the wind on the door. We come to bear you goodly wine, Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor. From far away we come to you, The snow in the street and the wind on the door. To tell of great tidings strange and true, Ministrels and maids, stand forth on the floor. News, news of the Trinity, The snow in the street and the wind on the door. And Mary and Joseph from over the sea! Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor. For as we wandered far and wide, The snow in the street and the wind on the door. What hap do ye deem there should us betide! Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor. Under a bent when the night was deep, The snow in the street and the wind on the door. There lay three shepherds tending their sheep. Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor. |