On Receiving An Eagle's Quill From Lake Superior
All day the darkness and the cold
Upon my heart have lain,
Like shadows on the winter sky,
Like frost upon the pane;
But now my torpid fancy wakes,
And, on thy Eagle's plume,
Rides forth, like Sindbad on his bird,
Or witch upon her broom!
Below me roar the rocking pines,
Before me spreads the lake
Whose long and solemn-sounding waves
Against the sunset break.
I hear the wild Rice-Eater thresh
The grain he has not sown;
I see, with flashing scythe of fire,
The prairie harvest mown!
I hear the far-off voyager's horn;
I see the Yankee's trail,--
His foot on every mountain-pass,
On every stream his sail.
By forest, lake, and waterfall,
I see his pedler show;
The mighty mingling with the mean,
The lofty with the low.
He's whittling by St. Mary's Falls,
Upon his loaded wain;
He's measuring o'er the Pictured Rocks,
With eager eyes of gain.
I hear the mattock in the mine,
The axe-stroke in the dell,
The clamor from the Indian lodge,
The Jesuit chapel bell!
I see the swarthy trappers come
From Mississippi's springs;
And war-chiefs with their painted brows,
And crests of eagle wings.
Behind the scared squaw's birch canoe,
The steamer smokes and raves;
And city lots are staked for sale
Above old Indian graves.
I hear the tread of pioneers
Of nations yet to be;
The first low wash of waves, where soon
Shall roll a human sea.
The rudiments of empire here
Are plastic yet and warm;
The chaos of a mighty world
Is rounding into form!
Each rude and jostling fragment soon
Its fitting place shall find,--
The raw material of a State,
Its muscle and its mind!
And, westering still, the star which leads
The New World in its train
Has tipped with fire the icy spears
Of many a mountain chain.
The snowy cones of Oregon
Are kindling on its way;
And California's golden sands
Gleam brighter in its ray!
Then blessings on thy eagle quill,
As, wandering far and wide,
I thank thee for this twilight dream
And Fancy's airy ride!
Yet, welcomer than regal plumes,
Which Western trappers find,
Thy free and pleasant thoughts, chance sown,
Like feathers on the wind.
Thy symbol be the mountain-bird,
Whose glistening quill I hold;
Thy home the ample air of hope,
And memory's sunset gold!
In thee, let joy with duty join,
And strength unite with love,
The eagle's pinions folding round
The warm heart of the dove!
So, when in darkness sleeps the vale
Where still the blind bird clings
The sunshine of the upper sky
Shall glitter on thy wings!
poem by John Greenleaf Whittier
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Related quotes
In Winter's Arms
Winter holds me with his arms of icy white,
and kissed my breath with frost upon the pane.
Subdued by touch of winter's frigid hand,
I pray for spring to find me once again.
O'wind, you whistle to the winter's tune.
Your melody is heard 'pon day and night,
but one day spring will come to rescue me,
and wisk away your song of winter's blight.
O'tree, you're frozen in the winter's dream.
Your leaves have left you 'neath a moon of white,
but when my prayers are answered 'pon spring's dawn,
you'll thaw beneath its sun with warm delight.
O'field, your harvest has been reaped and spent ~
and winter blankets you 'neath snowy mounds.
Yet one day soon in springtime's rising mist
you'll feel the greening of your earth rebound.
Winter holds me with his arms of icy white,
and kissed my breath with frost upon the pane ~
but deep within I somehow always know,
that spring will come and find me once again.
poem by Hazelmarie Elliott
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On Most Surfaces
The frost hits me in the eye
and wakes me
these are blury winters
and I cannot see
I walk into the white light of the snow
when the sun comes
I break it with my shadow
which tales me where I go
The frost hits me in the eye
and wakes me
I am the snow falling down on you
I tear up your face with my frost
And make you run to somewhere warm
When I come I see you get away
I burst out about your emptyness
The frost hits me in the eye
and wakes me
these are blury winters
and I cannot see
song performed by by The Gathering from Nighttime Birds
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Shadowed
Hard as the bed in the earth
where a stone has lain —
so rough, so tough, and so cold, —
Winter’s stranglehold
dumb numbs with callous hand.
Musty dusty as smell
of old earth on a vein -
oozing damp through its pores —
Winter’s white blanket is lain,
chilling me to the core
with fine filigree hair;
stealing sight from my eyes.
poem by Jonathan Robin
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Cold Winter
Ive seen you, cold winter,
I know you, cold winter.
You showed me no mercy,
Still I shant forget[? ] the warning.
Youll never know how it feels to be loved.
I know you, cold winter,
You broke my heart, cold winter.
I missed you, warm summer,
Never thought Id see you, cold summer.
Youll never know how it feels to be loved.
I thank you, cold winter,
Never leave that game[? ] to lifes story.
You healed me, cold winter,
You taught me how to face the morning.
song performed by by Kinks
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Stagger Mountain Tragedy
I was born on stagger mountain in the sunshine and the snow
And leavin was the first mistake I made;
But I hungered for the shadows in the valley down below
And the girl that danced the tune the devil played.
Her smile was like the blindin light of sunshine on the snow
And the flashin of her hair was black as sin.
And her body set the smokes of hell a-boilin in my skull
When the fiddle of the devil made her spin.
Morning sunshine [sunshine] high on the mountain,
Where the air is pure and cold;
But theres darkness in the shadows
In the canyons of my soul.
The lantern cast a shadow like a demon on the wall
And the naked sweat was breathin on her skin;
Then the room was spinning closer as her clothes began to fall
And the eagle started screamin in my brain;
Then I saw the laughin dagger and I heard the devil scream
And her bleeding heart was beating in my hand.
Then the darkness blew away and I was standin by a tree
With a hanging rope a-danglin from a limb.
Morning sunshine [sunshine] high on the mountain,
Where the air is pure and cold;
But theres darkness in the shadows
In the canyons of my soul.
song performed by by Kris Kristofferson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Cold Winter Night
on a cold winter night
frost in the air
an angel is born
but it just isn`t fair
i know in my heart
you`ll always be near
but life without you
i just couldn`t bare
i want you to know
just how much i cared
the times that we had
the life that we shared
as you leave out of sight
on this cold winter night
i love you sweet jen
sleep tight
poem by Joseph Whelan
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Still
Life passes yet I remain still
Frozen in the winter of happiness's joy
Caught in the icy flame of love's thrill
Dreaming of thee, love dreams doth deploy
Tinges of frost over mine golden hair
Rivers of cold blood through mine mauve vein
Crystals of ice to capture mine eternal stare
And scarlet love dead in my lips lain
All around me doth winter melt
And leaves turn orange and gently play
In the summer heat of the sun's swelt
As spring winds run through the fall day.
Still I move and still I change not
Dreaming of thee and the cold love thy brought…
poem by Kevin Michael Murphy
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Alms
My heart is what it was before,
A house where people come and go;
But it is winter with your love,
The sashes are beset with snow.
I light the lamp and lay the cloth,
I blow the coals to blaze again;
But it is winter with your love,
The frost is thick upon the pane..
I know a winter when it comes:
The leaves are listless on the boughs;
I watched your love a little while,
And brought my plants into the house.
I water them and turn them south,
I snap the dead brown from the stem;
But it is winter with your love,
I only tend and water them.
There was a time I stood and watched
The small, ill-natured sparrows' fray;
I loved the beggar that I fed,
I cared for what he had to say,
I stood and watched him out of sight:
Today I reach around the door
And set a bowl upon the step;
My heart is what it was before,
But it is winter with your love;
I scatter crumbs upon the sill,
And close the window, —and the birds
May take or leave them, as they will.
poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay
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Immune
When you're muffled to the chin and
You wear flannel next the skin and
'Spite of all, the frost creeps in and
Gets you, Winter's nearly due;
And, in snuffling citizens, a
Fierce attack of influenza
Wakes a wild, insane cadenza
With the burden 'Ar-tish-ooO!!'
Then a sight that sends me crazy
In these chilly days and hazy,
Is to see defiant Daisy
Tripping blithesomely and bold
In a blouse that's simply shocking
And a flimsy silken stocking,
All the ills of Winter mocking.
Does she ever catch a cold?
poem by Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis
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Shadows
The rising of the moon wakes up the shadows
and commands them to emerge from the dark.
The daylight shadows are disappearing fast
with the sparrows the dove and the lark.
As always the light makes way for darkness
as it’s chased from night’s time and space.
The dark shapes seek out those of the light,
at this hour there’s no hiding place.
The shadows of the darkness will not submit,
away from the light they’re there.
Instinctively they wait until it’s eerie
then venture where nothing else dare.
After a night of changing shape and haunting
the shadows themselves feel fear.
The daylight is coming up on the horizon
and the night shadows flee and disappear.
poem by Orlando Belo
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The Darkness Outside Is The Darkness Within
THE DARKNESS OUTSIDE IS THE DARKNESS WITHIN
The darkness outside is the darkness within
Night is the most frightening time
And winter the most difficult season
And old age the coldest and cruelest time of life.
And I now in winter in old age in the middle of the night
Write
A small poem of hope
Against the greater darkness to come
The night which does not end
And the cold which goes on forever.
poem by Shalom Freedman
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Wintertime
Winter has come with his cold breeze
Oh how I missed the long nights and cold air
Noble winter do as whatever you please
Some bees hide in their trees
The fauna and flora in winter so rare
Winter has come with his cold breeze
You all mighty of all season that freeze the seas
Warm us with your artic flare
Noble winter do as whatever you please
Oh great winter now that I m on my knees
The snow might have something to spare
Winter has come with his cold breeze
Yesterday was like a gentle kiss
There where so many stars to stare
Noble winter do as whatever you please
So you have brought us many diseases
Now in winter people so scare
Winter has come with his cold breeze
Noble winter do as whatever you please
poem by Ayrtonn Bautista
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Rippling Mirrors
Rippling mirrors morning
Yellow roads ahead
Winter without warning
Made my roses dead
Now there´s time of evening
Kisses of the cold
Temperaments in a swing
Depth of frost unfold
Grays of shadows close
Murky hours calling
Wintriness morning rose
in window drops falling
Like my love that is lost
On to the past of days
Deep hollow earthly frost
Each its pleasures ways
Rippling morning´s glowing
In the clouds going by
Everything is now going
From its fervor high
Yesterdays were giving
All the things from heart
Now new times are living
In their pathways depart
poem by Peter S. Quinn
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Whats Simple Is True
Turn to me with frozen lips
Your hands are so icy cold
Your eyes burn bright against the frost-bit sky
You never seemed more lovely than you do tonight
Pale on the horizon
Like leaves frozen in the snow
Our two shadows merge inserparably
Will time stand still if its pierced with cold?
The more I live
The more I know
Whats simple is true
I love you
Theres a warmth in my heart
It haunts me when youre gone
Mend me to your side and never let go
Say time knows nothing, well never grow cold
The more I live
The more I know
Whats simple is true
I love you
Twilight descends on our silhouette
How soon spring comes
How soon spring forgets
I wanna hold time, say itll never begin
Old man winter be our friend
Old man winter be our friend
cause the more I live
The more I know
Whats simple is true
Whats simple is true
I love,
I love you
song performed by by Jewel
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Faces Of Winter~
Anguish put on it's Winter face-
It's icy story embroidered into the snow
A brocade of cold that chilled to ones bone
A compassionless season where the sorrow just grows;
Falling through it's window pane of time...
Anguish laid down it's blanket of white
No sleet-only the harsh sting of cold
You know-that cutting winter bite?
You'd swear that it was slicing into you...
Through the darkest of the skies Winter grey-
Anguish put on it's Winter face
And brought a blizzard of sheer despair my way! ;
By: Theodora Onken
June 29,2012
poem by Theodora Onken
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Mother Nature Can Be Fickle
Winter’s cold is Mother Nature’s way
Of saying, lie with me now, lay your head on my breast
It’s snow, a blanket under which to lay
Neath a crystal cover, enjoying winter's cold caress
Frost rimed windows … Mother Nature’s art
Icy abstractions painted with frosty finesse
Crystalline concoctions that form only a part
Of Mother Natures wonderful winter largesse
Ice coated limbs of slope shouldered trees
droop drowsily down as if fallen asleep
Unable to sway in winter’s frigid breeze
Appear as white mounds, when the snow drifts deep
The stillness one hears on cold winter nights
Broken by the sudden crack of ice laden boughs
The ethereal essence of undulating northern lights
Headlights in the sky for Nature’s snowplows
All is withdrawn, in awe of Nature’s might
Willingly waiting, deep neath frozen ground
Safely sequestered, from winter’s cruel bite
In warm tunnels and burrows, til spring comes around
Mother Nature invites winter into her domain
Cohabits with coldness, wantonly sleeps with Jack frost
Yet finds cold winter quickly falls to disdain
Invites in the spring…and tells winter to get lost
Mother Nature is fickle…and also the boss!
poem by David Whalen
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Spring Rains (a Villanelle)
There shall come Spring rains
When all seems lost to the cold decay
And Winter shall release its icy reign
When hopes anew are all but slain
By the bitter hold of frigid days
There shall come Spring rains
Vernal longings shall make their way
As colors emerge from shades of gray
And Winter shall release its icy reign
Nature's display may seem bleak and inane
As Winter's chill yet still remains
There shall come Spring rains
Joy will abound where sorrow had lain
As Spring once more holds sway
And Winter shall release its icy reign
Cold may rear its head time and again
Bear faith and do not dismay
There shall come Spring rains
And Winter shall release its icy reign
poem by Sheri Hockman
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Wintertime
Snow falling on the ground,
Little white flakes to be found.
Lift your head to the sky,
And watch the snow zippin’ by.
Cold wind at your back,
Nothing winter seems to lack.
A blanket of snow covers the Trees,
Winter can’t end. No please!
Can’t Jack Frost do his Job?
For a little longer, don’t make me sob.
Can’t I stay in this Wonderland?
I don’t want to return to golden sand.
But under the layer of cold, white snow,
Lies little seedlings ready to show.
I must say a grateful farewell,
To winter fun, for it was swell.
And say hello to summer sweat,
Instead of getting cold, we get wet.
Hello Spring! Hello Summer!
Goodbye Fall! Goodbye Winter!
SHADOWS OF AUTUMN {A Poet's Dream}
Shadows that haunt me in autumn
Memories of colours lost to winter
The Douglas Fir......forever green
Keeps the forests from the barren
and desolate winter...
Shadows tail the whispered winds
November's fickle breeze....snaps
Fresh images, for the Poet's mind
Reclusive me, i write my stories in
silent attitude...
Shadows that vision harvests death
Tips of golden leaves, turn to brown
Morning dew is masked in first-frost
I watch it all, by a window, in a room
of Donne and Poe...
All i need is my paper...and isolation
To feed by yen, for the abstract buffet
I bother no one..... harbour no secrets
I'm about words 'n tales from the dark
side of fiction...
For a Poet i am not- and will never be
Poet's paint a canvass, of open doors
Into the passions 'n perils of their lives
And they do it oh so well...'tis God-Gift
Still i write.....
And, the shadows of Autumn, haunt me
They scream and bleed poetic promise
Like the gold that Robert Frost inspired
While captured, in the autumn shadows
of a Poets dream...
(September 1st,2007)
poem by Frank James Ryan Jr.
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The Killing Frost
There is an enchantment in the Killing Frost
It's the most magical night of the year
When the abundant blooms of Summer
Are put to sleep by Frost's frozen tears.
The Killing Frost arrives here silently
Flying in ahead of Winter's incoming wrath
Covering all things that are of the earth
Putting to sleep all flora in her path.
As the late Autumn sun sinks below the horizon
On this Special Night of the year
Plants which were all alive this past morn will be no more
It's time to make way for Winter's Cheer.
Everything Frost kisses will be put to eternal repose
Adorned by Frost's magical breath during the night
All will be dripping in Diamonds in the Morn
With which to dazzle by soft Morning's light.
Winter will be arriving shortly now
And Frost will take her leave
To make way for fluttering snowflakes
Which will come to dance during the long Winter's Eve.
poem by Christine A Kysely (29 December 2010)
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