One calm and cloudless winter night,
Under a moonless sky,
Whence I had seen the gracious light
Of sunset fade and die,
I stood alone a little space,
Where tree nor building bars
Its outlook, in a desert place,
The best to see the stars.
No sound was in the frosty air,
No light below the skies;
I looked...
The spring came earlier on
Than usual that year;
The shadiest snow was gone,
The slowest brook was clear,
And warming in the sun
Shy flowers began to peer.
’T was more like middle May,
The earth so seemed to thrive,
That Nineteenth April day
Of Seventeen Seventy-five;
Winter was well a way,
New England...
O steadfast trees that know
Rain, hail, and sleet, and snow,
And all the winds that blow;
But when spring comes, can then
So freshly bud again
Forgetful of the wrong!
Waters that deep below
The stubborn ice can go
With quiet underflow,
Contented to be dumb
Till spring herself shall come
To listen...
