tiik nrnTiriL sow.

HT "St MORB VJIFOItTfJfATE.

Thr touowing exqu.site px'm i t! f

prolaction of an unknown author. It is

one of the mot ten .?-r and lcau:iful p­

etical effuion t,i found in the whole

range of English literature It ha Uvn

read wi:h delight everywhere, and has

recently been beautiful'v iilutrsted an.l

publisherl in lxok form.

The rare o-rurreoe of snow in thi

section calls forth more than the usual

delight of placre ti' the North and West

of us and we know that the re-prvxluction

of tbeac bcsutil'ul liiie will not lc out of

place at this time, or "rhestnutt" as

some think, to the admirer of true po­

etry :

Oh, the mow, the tieautiful snow.

Filling the sky and the earth tx-low.

Over the house-tops, over the street,

t)Ter th heads of the people you meet.

IHneintr.

Kiirt:.ntr,

SLimmlni; slonjj:

IWutiful snow ' it can do no wrung,

Flying :o kiss a fair lady's cheek.

Clinging U lips in a frolirnnme freak,

Beautiful anow from the Heaven above.

Pure aa ancel, jntle u dove.

Oh. the scow, the beautiful snow,

How the flakes gather and laugh a.s they

Whirling !-ut in the r madening fun.

It plays in it.s jfles' w t'l eTcry o.ic.

C'has'nkj,

Laaghint;.

Hurryinij by

It '.!.''.:- . f , it. th-

eye.

Anl eTen the d.g with a bark and a

bound,

Sr.ap at the crystals that eddy around

The town is a'iTe and its heart in a glow !

To a eVome the coming of the teautiful

snow !

How the wi'd r.-oad toe swaying along.

Hailing each other with humor and

song 1

How the gay sledges, like meteors, flish

Bright for a moment, then lost to the

eye

liioginc.

Swinging,

laxM-ing they go.

Over the crust of the beautiful snow;

Snow so pure when it falls from the aky.

To be trampled in mud by the crowd

rushing by,

To be trampled and tracked by thous­

and of feet.

Till it blends with the filth of the horri­

ble street

Once I was pure as the snow but I fell!

Fell like the anow flakes, from Heaven to

hell!

Fell to be tram pi el as filth in tha street.

Fell to be scoHcd, to b- spit on nd

beat;

Pleading,

Cursing,

Dreading to die.

Selling my soul to whoever would buy,

Dealing in shame for a morsel of bread,

Hating the living and 'earing the ded.

Merciful God have I fal!co so low t

And yl I was once I'Le tue lieautiful

snow.

Once I wis fair as the leantii'ul snow.

With an eye like itscrystal, a heart like

i glow;

Flattered and soifght for tht charms of

my face

Fa! her.

Mother.

Sisters all,

(od and myself I rt lost by ray fall:

The vileat wretch that poos shivering by.

Will mate a wide w.-ep 'est I wander

too nigh;

For all that is of or abbut mc I know.

There nothing that's pure but the beau­

tiful saow.

How strange it should le that the beau-

liful MOW

Should fall on a sinner with nowhere to

g '

How strange it siiould le when the night

comes again.

If the enow and the ice strikes my des­

perate brain.

Fainting.

Freezing,

Dying alone.

Too wicked for prayer, too weak for a

moan.

To be heard in the struts of the crazy

town.

Oone mad in its joy of the snow comiDg

down;

To be and to die in mv terrible woe,

With ajlxrd and shroud of the Ix-autifal

snow.

THE AJigWER

Biother and friend, tho' I never may

know

The soul that gTe birth to the "Iieauti-

ful Snow."

Tho' the hand that dret penned it be laid

in the dust.

The pen that first traced it consumed

with the rust.

in the world of word pictures there is

nothing I know

More deeply ean moTe me than "lieautiful

Snow.

And tho' it brings Untity and joy In its

wake.

This innocent, noiseless, downy snow-

flake

Lovinrlv seeks this dark orb of our birth,

Anil folds its solt mantle around "Mother

Earth."

While warmly and tenderly mustered

below.

Sleep flowers and verdure 'neath ''Beauti

ful fDOW.

And what tho' it falls on our sin-stnekea

earth,

To brighten our gloom, to heighten our

mirth:

Softly and gently it seemeth to tell,

Tho' tried and tempted, you faltered and

fell.

Yet Jesus can wash you and clothe you

once more.

In garments as white as the "Beautiful

Snow.

And what tho" it seems too pure for our

toueh.

God giveth it freely to sinners, as mnch

Astosainu. and he say el D, tbo wreti:hj

andwild.

With'deapair. and tho' lost to both par

ent ami cnilil.

There's no one so fallen, but yet he may

And wash, and It pure ai the ' Ileauliful

rrnow.

Then it awakens such thoughts in the

soul.

A longing aad pleading that God would

make wnole.

The vilent poor wanderer and teach h;m

tbe wav.

From fathomless darkness to inrinite day.

In all the wide world, there is nothing I

know,

More sweet than the mission of --Beautiful

Snow."

Aad tho' brother and friend tho' wc

neTcr be known.

Till we tuje our harps near the Great

Wbiie Throne.

Yet the iweet word pictdre, slis'.l Htc as

ioday

"A thing of beauty a.id a joy for aye,"

And while sight and memory linger l­

low, I shall ever thank God for the "Beautiful

Snow.