Louise Driscoll. Premonition. Harriet Monroe, ed. Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912-22

Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22.

Premonition

By Louise Driscoll


THERE’S the crystal shiver of an icicle
Falling from a bank where the runnels are deep
That the last snow cut in the red-brown bank
Where the melting frost-rills creep.

The pine tree branches are bending low	5
With a wet, white weight; and a woodpecker drums
On a locust tree that will blossom white
When the call for honey comes.

The elm tree is gray with a purple shade,
And the sky seems to hang too low;	10
But I’ve seen a light that the willows made,
Yellow against the snow.

The edge of the wind is dull and wet;
The thin ice over the stream looks black;
And I know that power to power is set,	15
And winter is turning back.