XVII. THE VOICE IN THE SNOW. 1. WE are the fairies of the Snow, Hushing sweet hearts where'er we go !— Our gentle motion from the skies Has voiceless music for the eyes, We stir the grey and wintry air, And, mirror'd in the eyes, we roll With thought-like glamour to the Soul! 2. We are the fairies of the Snow, Hushing the heart where'er we go!— We paint the earth in winter hours With stainless pictures of the flowers, We kiss the dark earth till it grows A silver cloud of pure repose, Till nature's troublous yearning sense Hushes itself to reverence! 3. We are the fairies of the Snow, Pale signs of unborn loveliness! 4. We are the fairies of the Snow, Working for weal where'er we go! We warm the quick'ning babe of spring Under a silken carpeting, And darkening in fleecy flocks We seek the roots of trees and rocks And blowing thence, in summer hours, We are the fairies of the Flowers! XVIII. METEMPSYCHOSIS. 1. I DISTINCTLY remember (and who dares doubt me?) An Having been (now, I care not who believes!) ape with a forest around about me- And my deep respect for the Devil's Tail! 2. I shall never forget the exquisite feeling Of elevation, sans thought, sans care, When I twisted my tail round the wood's bough ceiling, And swung, meditatively, in the air.— There's an advantage!-Fairer shapes can Aspire, yearn upward, tremble and glow, But, by means of their posteriority, apes can Look down on aspirants that walk below! 3. There was a life for a calm philosopher, Self-supplied with jacket, and trousers, and socks, Nothing to learn, no hopes to get cross over, A head that resisted the hardest knocks, Liquor and meat in serene fruition, A random income from taxes free, No cares at all, and but one ambition— To swing by the Tail to the bough of a tree! 4. Whence I firmly believe, to the consternation Of puppies who think monkeyosophy sin, |