Snow

White are the far-off plains

And white the fading forests grow

The wind dies out amongst the tides

And denser still the snow

A gathering weight on roof and tree

Falls down scarce audibly

The meadows and far-sheeted streams

Lie still without a sound

Like some soft minister of dreams

The snowfall hoods me around

In wood and water, earth and air

A silence is everywhere

Save when at lonely spells

Some farmer's sleigh is urged on

With rustling runner and sharp bells

Swings by me and is gone

Or from the empty waste I hear

A sound remote and clear

The barking of a dog

To cattle, is sharply pued

Borne, echoing from some wayside stall

Or barnyard far afield

Then all is silent and the snow

Falls settling soft and slow

The evening deepens and the grey

Folds closer Earth to sky

The world seems shrouded, so far away

Its noises sleep, and I

As secret as yon buried stream

Plod dumbly on and dream

And dream

And dream

I dream

And I dream