James and Mary Ford, eds. Every Day in the Year. 1902.
February 1Arthur Henry Hallam
By Alfred, Lord Tennyson (18091892)
I
A bitter day that early sank
Behind a purple-frosty bank
Of vapor, leaving night forlorn.
To deck the banquet. Fiercely flies
The blast of North and East, and ice
Makes daggers at the sharpen’d eaves,
To yon hard crescent, as she hangs
About the wood which grides and clangs
Its leafless ribs and iron horns.
To darken on the rolling brine
That breaks the coast. But fetch the wine,
Arrange the board and brim the glass;
To make a solid core of heat;
Be cheerful-minded, talk and treat
Of all things ev’n as he were by;
With books and music, surely we
Will drink to him, whate’er he be,
And sing the songs he loved to hear.