In Snow-Time

I have seen things that charmed the heart to rest:

Faint moonlight on the towers of ancient towns,

Flattering the soul to dream of old renowns;

The first clear silver on the mountain

Where the lone eagle by his chilly

Called the lone soul to brood serenely free;

Still pools of sunlight shimmering in the sea,

Calm after storm, wherein the storm seemed blest.

But here a peace deeper than peace is furled,

Enshrined and chaliced from the changeful hour;

The snow is still, yet lives in its own light.

Here is the peace which brooded day and night,

Before the heart of man with its wild

Had ever spurned or trampled the great world.