That great tree covered with snow until its branches droop, the oak, that keeps its leaves through winter (in spring a bud breaks the stem), has in its utmost branch a cardinal, who brushing snow aside, pauses for an instant then plummets toward earth until just above a drift he opens his wings and brakes, fluttering in a cloud of snow he pushed aside. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DANTE by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT THE EXAMPLE by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES THE CHARIOT by EMILY DICKINSON DIVINATION BY A DAFFADILL by ROBERT HERRICK BOSTON COMMON: 1869 by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES DEAD IN THE SIERRAS by CINCINNATUS HEINE MILLER A HEALTH by EDWARD COATE PINKNEY ADDRESS TO A CHILD DURING A BOISTEROUS WINTER EVENING by DOROTHY WORDSWORTH |