Page:Pocahontas and Other Poems (NY).pdf/49

48 Uncoroneted. Broider'd frost-work wraps Yon stunted pear-tree, whose ne'er ripen'd fruit, Acid and bitter, every truant-boy Blamed with set teeth. Lo! while I speak, its crown Kindleth in bossy crimson, and a stream Of Tyrian purple, blent with emerald spark, Floats round its rugged arms; while here and there Gleams out a living sapphire, mid a knot Of trembling rubies, whose exquisite ray O'erpowers the astonish'd sight. One arctic queen, For one ice-palace, rear'd with fearful toil, And soon dissolving, scrupled not to pay Her vassal's life; and emperors of old Have drain'd their coffers for the people's gaze, Though but a single amphitheatre Compress'd the crowd. But thou, whose potent wand Call'd forth such grand enchantment, swift as thought, And silent as a vision, and canst spread Its wondrous beauty to each gazing eye, Nor be the poorer, thou art scorn'd and bann'd Mid all thy beauty. Summer scantly sheds A few brief dew-drops for the sun to dry, And wins loud praise from every piping swain For the proud fête. Yet, certes, in these days, When wealth is so esteem'd that he who boasts The longest purse is sure the wisest man, Winter, who thus affords to sprinkle gems, Mile after mile, on all the landscape round, And decks his new-made peers in richer robes Than monarch ever gave, deserves more thanks