Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By Thomas WentworthHigginson

446 “The Snowing of the Pines”

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

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;

The delicate needless fill the air; the jay

Takes through their golden mist his radiant flight;

They fall and fall, till at November’s close

The snow-flakes drop as lightly—snows on snows.