SNOW-FLAKES.

Are the snow-flakes pearly flowers

That in the skies have birth,

And gently fall in gleaming showers

Upon this barren earth?

Or, are they fleecy locks of wool,

From sheep that wander by

The silver streams, that, singing, roll

Through valleys in the sky?

Or, are they downy feathers, cast

By little birds above,

And hurried earthward by the blast,

Bright messengers of love?

No, they are pearly blossoms, flung

From heaven’s airy bowers,

To recompense us for the loss

Of summer’s blooming flowers.

Mattie Bell.