Page:The Domestic Affections, and Other Poems.pdf/159



Lo! borne on clouds, in rushing might sublime, Stern winter, bursting from the polar clime, Triumphant waves his signal-torch on high, The blood-red meteor of the northern sky! And high thro' darkness rears his giant-form, His throne, the billow!—and his flag, the storm!

Yet then, when bloom and sun-shine are no more, And the wild surges foam along the shore; Domestic bliss! thy heaven is still serene, Thy star, unclouded, and thy myrtle, green! Thy fane of rest no raging storms invade, Sweet peace is thine, the seraph of the shade! Clear thro' the day, her light around thee glows, And gilds the midnight of thy deep repose! Hail, sacred home! where soft Affection's hand. With flow'rs of Eden twines her magic band! Where pure and bright, the social ardors rise, Concentring all their holiest energies!