THE SNOWBIRD

When the leaves are shed

And the branches bare,

When the snows are deep

And the flowers asleep,

And the autumn dead;

And the skies are o’er us bent

Gray and gloomy since she went,

And the sifting snow is drifting

Through the air;

Then mid snowdrifts white,

Though the trees are bare,

Comes the Snowbird bold

In the winter’s cold.

Quick and round and bright,

Light he steps across the snow.

Cares he not for winds that blow,

Though the sifting snow be drifting

Through the air.

—Dora R. Goodale.