Rhoda A. Faulkner. From 'Frost on the Window'. William Wilfred Campbell, comp. 1913. The Oxford Book of Canadian Verse

William Wilfred Campbell, comp. The Oxford Book of Canadian Verse. 1913.

From ‘Frost on the Window’

By Rhoda A. Faulkner


O’ER the window crept the hoary frost,
With many a wayward freak and curious antic,
In varied lines, that quaintly blent and crossed
In tracery romantic.

Here, bloomed a wreath of pure pale ghostly flowers,	5
As hueless as the faded cheek of death;
There, rose tall pinnacles and Gothic towers,
That melted with a breath;

With trees and foliage rich—the tinted oak,
The willow, wan and still, like settled grief,	10
The hazel, easy bent, but hardly broke,
And varying maple leaf.

The gentle moonbeam kissed the silvery pane
With a most sister-like and chaste caress,
As if it fain a fellowship would claim	15
With such pure loveliness.

And still more beautiful the magic ray
Made all it rested on, leaf, flower, and tree;
And lingered there, like innocence at play
With stainless purity.	20