Where water falls and rests upon the land 
As ice, it forms a layer of deceit.
The crystal wonder, so austere and grand
Makes purity a cover for retreat.
In regions southern, plants upon the sand
Do lack that pretty alabaster sheet
And brown and skeletal do make their stand
As life flows from the grass beneath your feet

To lurk within the roots, where there abides
The same persistence that the snowdrift hides.
As all defies the fading of the light
To wait in silver patience through the night
And months, until the new green leaves are fanned,
And ancient lines are dealt a fresh new hand.