January / Ruby Archer

January

The snow is diamond for a fairy's feet;
Blithely and bonnily she trips along,
Her lips a-carol with a merry song,
And in her eyes the meaning. "Life is sweet!"
The rhythm of youth is in her pulses' beat,
The lissome form is beautiful and strong,
The happy heart is innocent of wrong.
Young Hope incarnate seems the earth to greet,
How fair is she — just pinker than the snow.
Behold — a roguish coyness in her face!
Ah see — a spray of saucy mistletoe
Is nestling in her hair. A chase! A chase!
A gleeful laugh,— the vision bright has paled,
Is lost in clouds her laughing breath exhaled.

~~
Ruby Archer (1873-1961)

[Poem is in the public domain in Canada]

Ruby Archer biography