In a Winter Wood / Clinton Scollard

In a Winter Wood 

Into a winter wood
At the crest of the morn I went;
The pine-tree stood like a tent
Of ermine, feathery soft;
The hemlock wore a hood;
And many another bole,
Towering far aloft.
Was wrapt in a samite stole.

A gentle whispering
Seemed wafted from tree to tree.
Like a broken melody
Chorded tender and low;
"We are gossiping of Spring,"
Said a birch, with a friendly nod,
"Of how we will joy when the snow
Will let us look on the sod!"

Then came a truant crow
With a lusty, rusty note,
And a squirrel, sleek of coat.
With his chirrup ever glad;
So we all chimed in, and oh,
What a cheery, chattering,
Frolicsome time we had
Just gossiping of Spring!

~~

Clinton Scollard (1860-1932)

from Easter Song: Lyrics and ballads of the joy of springtime, 1906 

[Poem is in the public domain in Canada, the United States, and the European Union]

Clinton Scollard biography