Page 8 - Contrast1963v7n1

ELEGY BY WOODS

These woods of birch and pine, filled up with snow,
Are newly met to me; yet they appear
Old friends, as if presented long ago
By one I never met, but one yet dear--
By one who will not see me stopping here.

In him I found a word for every mood--
I found and lost my loneliness and fear,
And shared my joy in this beloved wood
To which I offer each unfettered tear
On this, the darkest evening of the year.

In other woods the snow will clothe the ground;
In other woods the birches still will bend.
In other woods will forked roads be found;
And other walls will break, and neighbors mend.
But to these lyric woods has come an end.

For he who introduced us to the snow,
The woods, the roads, the wall--he now has crossed
To where we cannot follow; and although
The woods are with us still, too much is lost--
There will be snow agam, but never frost.

In other woods the birches still will bend? "
Yes, and each will remind, "One could do worse ...
But to these lyric woods has come an end?
When every snowflake, every prrie and birch
Must be a living monument to his verse?

The woods and words remain--the man has fled.
The miles are gone; the promises are kept.
He rests--I cannot say that he is dead.
One final wish possessed me as I wept--
If only I had met him ere he slept!

Mary Crawford
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