Swiftly the blizzard stretched a frozen arm
From out the hollow night--
Stripping the world of all her scarlet pomp,
And muffling her in white.
Dead white the hills; dead white the soundless plain;
Dead white the blizzard's breath--
Heavy with hoar that touched each woodland thing
With a white and silent death.
In inky stupor, along the drifted snow,
The sluggish river rolled--
A numb black snake caught lingering in the sun
By autumn's sudden cold.
