Winter / Walter de la Mare [1916]

 

Winter

        Clouded with snow
        The cold winds blow,
And shrill on leafless bough
The robin with its burning breast
        Alone sings now.

        The rayless sun,
        Day's journey done,
Sheds its last ebbing light
On fields in leagues of beauty spread
        Unearthly white.

        Thick draws the dark,
        And spark by spark,
The frost-fires kindle, and soon
Over that sea of frozen foam
        Floats the white moon.

~~

Walter de la Mare (1873-1956)

from The Listeners, and other poems, 1916

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

Walter de la Mere biography