| Higginson and Bigelow, comps. American Sonnets. 1891. | | | | The Snowing of the Pines | | By Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1823–1911) |
| | | SOFTER than silence, stiller than still air, | |
| Float down from high pine-boughs the slender leaves. | |
| The forest floor its annual boon receives | |
| That comes like snowfall, tireless, tranquil, fair. | |
| Gently they glide, gently they clothe the bare | 5 |
| Old rocks with grace. Their fall a mantle weaves | |
| Of paler yellow than autumnal sheaves | |
| Or those strange blossoms the witch-hazels wear. | |
| Athwart long aisles the sunbeams pierce their way; | |
| High up, the crows are gathering for the night; | 10 |
| The delicate needles fill the air; the jay | |
| Takes through their golden mist his radiant flight; | |
| They fall and fall, till at November’s close | |
| The snowflakes drop as lightly—snows on snows. | | | | |
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