Full well I love thee in the winter days,
At noonday rising pale through sunny haze
A symphony in pearl—a jewel rare.
Bewitching are the charms I find when bare
And rugged stretch thy woods and meadows bleak­
To find them one would scarcely need to seek.
Marine and turquoise are the changing blues
Which paint thy sides with such entrancing hues
At twilight hour when daylight softly dies
And palest amber curtains drape the skies.
A mystery when on a winter’s night
December’s moon o’erflows with ghostly light.
A distant dream thou seemest then to be
Of faintest blue within a dark blue sea.
When winter winds have stripped thy every part,
I love thee, for I know thee as thou art.