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 262 KINGSLEY

cv A WELCOME

WELCOME, wild North-easter.

Shame it is to see Odes to every zephyr;

Ne'er a verse to thee. Welcome, black North-easter!

O'er the German foam; O'er the Danish moorlands,

From thy frozen home. Tired we are of summer,

Tired of gaudy glare, Showers soft and steaming,

Hot and breathless air. Tired of listless dreaming,

Through the lazy day: Jovial wind of winter

Turns us out to play ! Sweep the golden reed-beds;

Crisp the lazy dyke; Hunger into madness

Every plunging pike. Fill the lake with wild-fowl;

Fill the marsh with snipe; While on dreary moorlands

Lonely curlew pipe. Through the black fir-forest

Thunder harsh and dry, Shattering down the snow-flakes

Off the curdled sky.

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