“The Snow-Bird” (from Robert Merry’s Museum, February 1848; p. 64)
When the leaves and flowers are dead,
When the other birds are fled,
When the winter wind is keen,
Then the snow-birds all are seen.
When the flakes are falling fast,
When the forest feels the blast,
When the drifts in circles play,
’Tis the snow-birds’ holiday.
When the earth is covered deep,
When in ice the rivers sleep,
When all other things are sad,
Hark! the snow-birds’ voice is glad!
When the frost is on the pane,
When the wailing winds complain,
When the boys come shivering in,
Hark! the snow-birds’ cheerful din!
But when Spring, ’mid rosy light,
Bids stern Winter take his flight,
The snow-birds, in his stormy train,
Fly northward, where he holds his reign.