Classic Poem

Along the shore where night and storm impassioned
Are hushed to stillness by the sun's decree,
The eddying waters icy rings have fashioned
Like coral circles in a southern sea.

Upon these breathing waters, gently floating
And mirrored clearly in the deeps below,
Each crown is gleaming in a hoar-frost coating,
A fairy wreath tipped with its jewelled snow.

Yon veil of soft white mist is shining clearer
Where in the lake it answers to the skies,
As Love eternal truer seems and dearer
When seen by lover in a lover's eyes.

The winter morn unfolds in frosty splendour
And all the forms of earth to beauty wake,
The trees with drooping branches bare and slender,
The fair snow-lilies floating on the lake.