WINTER.

Though now no more the musing ear Delights to listen to the breeze That lingers o'er the greenwood shade, I love thee, Winter! well. Sweet are the harmonies of Spring, Sweet is the Summer's evening gale, Pleasant the Autumnal winds that shake The many coloured grove; And pleasant to the sobered soul The silence of a wintry scene, When Nature shrouds her in her trance, In deep tranquillity. Not undelightful now to roam The wild-heath sparkling on the sight; Not undelightful now to pace The forest's ample rounds; And see the spangled branches shine, And snatch the moss of many a hue That varies the old tree's brown bark, Or o'er the grey stone spreads. The clustered berries claim the eye, O'er the bright holly's gay green leaves; The ivy round the leafless oak Clasps its full foliage close.