There was frost on the trees, and a sprinkle of snow,

And tracks on the ground. Three boys below

The low eave listened. We burst through the door,

And a girl baby cried,—and then we were four.

We were not sturdy, and we were not wise

In the things of the world, and the ways men dare.

A pale-browed mother with a prophet’s eyes,

A father that dreamed and looked anywhere.

Three brothers—wild blossoms, tall-fashioned as men

And we mingled with none, but we lived as when