UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES WINTER POEMS FAVORITE AMERICAN POETS WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BOSTON FIELDS, OSGOOD, & CO. 187 i 146125 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, BY FIELDS, OSGOOD, & CO., in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. P.: In "WINTER POEMS" the Publishers offer a Holiday book having special appropriateness to the season. The first poem, " THE PAGEANT," was written expressly for this volume. The other poems combine the elements of wide popularity, seasonableness, and fitness for illustra- tion. It is believed that the variety and beauty of the designs, and the excellence of the engraving and printing, will commend the volume to the highest favor of the public. CONTENTS. THE PAGEANT THE GOLDEN MILE-STONE . . . A WINTER PIECE THE FIRST SNOW-FALL .... IN SCHOOL-DAYS THE SNOW-SHOWER ..... WOODS IN WINTER THE SNOW-STORM ....... PA< John Greenleaf Whittier . . 13 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 2 1 William Cullen Bryant , . 25 James Russell Lowell . . . 33 John Greenleaf Whittier . . 37 William Cnllen Bryant . . 41 Henry Wadsworth Longfell(no 45 Ralph Waldo Emerson . . 48 MIDNIGHT MASS FOR THE DYING YEAR Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 5 1 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. [The Engravings by A. V. S. ANTHONY, under whose supervision the book is prepared.] THE PAGEANT. ARTIST . PAGE " A sound as if from bells of silver Through the frost-pictured panes I hear." . HARRY FENN .... 13 "Virgin snow-paths glimmering through A jewelled elm-tree avenue." " " .... 14 " How yonder Ethiopian hemlock Crowned with his glistening circlet stands." " " . . . . 16 The Waterfall " " .... 17 "The rabbit lightly leaping." " " . . . . 18 " Cattle-tramp in crispy snow." " " . . . . 18 " Prophecy of summer days." " " .... 20 THE GOLDEN MILE-STONE. " Smoky columns Tower aloft into the air of amber." . . . WINSLOW HOMER . . 21 List of Illustrations. " Seeing ruined cities in the ashes." .... WINSLOW HOMER . . 22 " By the fireside there are youthful dreamers." " . . 22 "By the fireside tragedies are acted." ... " . . 23 " By the fireside there are peace and comfort." " . . 23 " On the hearth the lighted logs are glowing." " " . . 24 A WINTER PIECE. "Bright mosses crept Over the spotted trunks." C. C. GRISWOLD ... 25 " The bleak November winds." " " ... 26 "The snow-bird twittered on the beechen bough." " " . . 27 " And 'neath the hemlock .... The partridge found a shelter. Through the snow The rabbit sprang away." " ... 28 "The slant sun of February." " " ... 29 "The firm drift In the deep .glen." " " ... 31 "The little wind-flower." . . " " . ? 2 THE FIRST SNOW-FALL. The Snow-Spirit \V. J. HENNESSY ... 33 " I stood and watched by the window." . . " ... 34 "With eyes that saw not, I kissed her." . . " < ... 36 List of Illustrations. IX IN SCHOOL-DAYS. " The school-house by the road." S. EYTINGE, JR. ... 37 "For near her stood the little boy." .... " " . . . 39 "The grasses on Her grave." " " ... 40 THE SNOW-SHOWER. "Stand here by my side and turn, I pray, On the lake below thy gentle eyes." . . W. J. HENNESSY ... 41 " I see in thy gentle eyes a tear." . . . . " ... 43 The Silent Lake HOMER D. MARTIN . . 44 WOODS IN WINTER. " With solemn feet I tread the hill." . , " The embracing sunbeams chastely play And gladden these deep solitudes." "The crystal icicle is hung." .... "And the song ceased not with the day." "And gathering winds, in hoarse accord, Amid the vocal reeds pipe loud." . "I hear it in the opening year." . . . . HARRY FENN THE SNOW-STORM. " Announced by all the trumpets of the sky Arrives the snow." JERVIS MCENTEE "The north-wind's masonry." " The frolic architecture of the snow." . List of Illustrations. MIDNIGHT MASS FOR THE DYING YEAR. " Death, with frosty hand and cold, Plucks the old man by the beard." . . " The foolish, fond Old Year." "Then, too, the Old Year dieth And the forests utter a moan." .... "There shall come a mightier blast, There shall be a darker day." . . . ALFRED FREDERICKS 54 55 [The Vignettes and Ornaments in the introductory pages are drawn by JOHN J. HARLEV.] THE PAGEANT. A SOUND as if from bells of silver, Or elfin cymbals smitten clear, Through the frost-pictured panes I hear. A brightness which outshines the morning, A splendor brooking no delay, Beckons and tempts my feet away. I leave the trodden village highway For virgin snow-paths glimmering through A jewelled elm-tree avenue ; The Pageant. Where, keen against the walls of sapphire, The gleaming tree-bolls, ice-embossed, Hold up their chandeliers of frost. I tread in Orient halls enchanted, I dream the Saga's dream of caves Gem-lit beneath the North Sea waves ! The Pageant. 15 I walk the land of Eldorado, I touch its mimic garden bowers, Its silver leaves and diamond flowers ! The flora of the mystic mine-world Around me lifts on crystal stems The petals of its clustered gems ! What miracle of weird transforming Is this wild work of frost and light, This glimpse of glory infinite ! This foregleam of the Holy City Like that to him of Patmos given, The white bride coming down from heaven ! How flash the ranked and mail-clad alders, Through what sharp-glancing spears of reeds The brook its muffled water leads ! Yon maple, like the bush of Horeb, Burns unconsumed : a white, cold fire Rays out from every grassy spire. The Pageant. Each slender rush and spike of mullein, Low laurel shrub and drooping fern, Transfigured, blaze where'er I turn. How yonder Ethiopian hemlock Crowned with his glistening circlet stands ! What jewels light his swarthy hands ! Here, where the forest opens southward, Between its hospitable pines, As through a door, the warm sun shines. The jewels loosen on the branches, And lightly, as the soft winds blow, Fall, tinkling, on the ice below. The Pageant. And through the clashing of their cymbals I hear the old familiar fall Of water down the rocky wall, V