Every pine and fir and hemlock
Wore ermine too dear for an earl,
And the poorest twig on the elm-tree
Was ridged inch deep with pearl.
From sheds new roof’d with Carrara
Came Chanticleer’s muffled crow;
The stiff sails were softened to swan’s down,
And still flutter’d down the snow.
I stood and watch’d by the window
The noiseless work of the sky,