Classic Poem

Written at E DGEFIELD, ON A CALM WINTER'S DAY .

N O more the hostile tempests blow
And shake the cottage, topp'd with snow;
Sturdy oaks encased in white,
Glitter on the aching sight,
Many a pearl, and transient gem,
Emboss the branches, and the stem,
Pendent — here, and there — are seen
Crystal sparks, — the boughs between:
Lofty ashes rear their head
With hoary mantles, overspread:
Deck'd with plumes of nival hue,
The fir conif'rous, starts to view,
Boldly spreads its ample round,
Graceful, bending o'er the ground,
Then less, and less its spiral form
Meets the sky, and braves the storm:
There the laurel, fringed with snow,
Shades the nitid shrubs below;
Its ample leaves, in part, how green!
Virid, 'mid the brumal scene,
'Mid the ruthless breath of frost
Stands, with partial touch, embost;
Yields, reluctant, to the hand,
That whitens o'er the frigid land:
Sacred, venerable tree!
Dear to Petrarch, and to me!
Haste, thy foliage to repair,
'Gainst spring approach, all debonair,
Welcome shade, at noon of day,
When Phaebus sheds his fervid ray;
Then at thy halcyon foot reclined,
I'll warble numbers, so refined —
That birds shall stop their gay career,
And, wond'ring elfins, stop to hear!
And, if the soul of Laura, dwell —
As fabled, in thy mystic cell,
I'll try the powers of harmony,
To set the ling'ring spirit free,
To speed it thro' the nether sky,
And waft it, gentle bard, to thee.
Yonder weeping-willow bends,
O'er its stem, the frost extends,
Round its slender boughs entwines,
Twigs in glassy fetters binds;
Mark the sun's declining rays —
On the fretted branch — he plays,
Here, and there a doubtful beam,
Tips with gold, the point extreme.
Last the cypress, strikes my sight —
Mournful tree! array'd in white:
Mournful tree, yet ever dear!
Accept the tributary tear!
Accept the tear, that drops on thee,
Mournful, emblematic tree.