Page:Anthology of Magazine Verse (1921).djvu/109
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In summer loneliness was lulled
By birds that came to sing;
An old black creaker, by the door,
Was always a friendly thing.
By birds that came to sing;
An old black creaker, by the door,
Was always a friendly thing.
Slim poplars grew close to the barn
And whispered all day long;
The Plymouth Rocks scratched in their shade
And cackled or made song.
And whispered all day long;
The Plymouth Rocks scratched in their shade
And cackled or made song.
But in the winter when the jays
Sat shrieking, limb to limb,
It seemed somehow that he must hear;—
That she must talk with him.
Sat shrieking, limb to limb,
It seemed somehow that he must hear;—
That she must talk with him.
And when a lone, lean crow would light
Upon a fire-stubbed pine,
It seemed a black thought from her heart,
That blurred her brain like wine.
Upon a fire-stubbed pine,
It seemed a black thought from her heart,
That blurred her brain like wine.
One day a storm drove down; the wind
Banked snow in drifts on farm,
Encircling, with one deep drift,
The house like a gripping arm.
Banked snow in drifts on farm,
Encircling, with one deep drift,
The house like a gripping arm.
She shoveled a path from house to barn;
The cattle must be fed:
He let them go a day and night—
At her plea shook his head.
The cattle must be fed:
He let them go a day and night—
At her plea shook his head.
The crow came to the barn that night;
She took care of the cat;
The crow, on top-loft ladder's round,
In brooding silence sat.
She took care of the cat;
The crow, on top-loft ladder's round,
In brooding silence sat.
When Sunday came the storm had cleared.
Some city folks snow-shoed
Through Toby's Gap to Brimmer's Place,
And one of them, a dude,
Some city folks snow-shoed
Through Toby's Gap to Brimmer's Place,
And one of them, a dude,
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