WINTER.
The snow is lying deep upon the ground,
And naught disturbs the quiet, bitter air
Except the distant jingling sleigh bells sound,
Which seems to banish from my heart all care.
The trees are barren of their waving leaves,
The limbs are swaying sadly to and fro;
It seems as though it for its verdure grieves,
As down it shakes the flakes of shining snow.
Oh, thou to me forever art a friend—
I would that you were for the whole year round,
And He on high those blessings by you send
That always in your bounteous lap are found;
And you and I would be as angels here
And sorrow never know nor ever shed a tear!
SUNSHINE.
Thou dancing sunbeams through the happy day
Dost cheer me on my onward path through life,
You show to me more clear my stumbling way
And lighter make my almost ceaseless strife.
Thou art to me a greater friend indeed,
Than others I have loved up to this hour;—
They are oft but a wildly growing weed—
But thou art like a shining summer flow’r.
The world could not exist if not for thee,
The Ice-King would possession then obtain;
The light and beauty from all things would flee,
And naught but lasting, dark’ning chaos reighn.
But now we have the cheerful, glittering light
That keeps the universe alive and bright.
