How large that thrush looks on the bare thorn-tree! A swarm of such, three little months ago, Had hidden in the leaves and let none know Save by the outburst of their minstrelsy. A white flake here and there--a snow-lily Of last night's frost--our naked flower-beds hold; And for a rose-flower on the darkling mould The hungry redbreast gleams. No bloom, no bee. The current shudders to its ice-bound sedge: Nipped in their bath, the stark reeds one by one Flash each its clinging diamond in the sun: 'Neath winds which for this Winter's sovereign pledge Shall curb great king-masts to the ocean's edge And leave memorial forest-kings o'erthrown. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...RETALIATION by OLIVER GOLDSMITH PREJUDICE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON LOVE AND TIME by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD MILTONIC by MAVIS CLARE BARNETT THE LIFE-POWER by LOUISA SARAH BEVINGTON THE ELDER WOMAN'S SONG: 3, FR. KING LEAR'S WIFE by GORDON BOTTOMLEY |