BEAUTIFUL SNOW! ^ By

Major Sigotjbney. Oh ! the snow, the

beautiful snow ! Pilling the sky and

earth belcw ; Over the housetops, over

the street, Over the heads of the people

you meet. Dancing, flirting, skimming

alongBeautiful snow ! it can do nothing

wrong. Flying to kiss a fair lady's

cheek — Clinging to lips in a frolicsome

freak ; Beautiful snow, from the heavens

above, Pure as an angel, gentle as love.

Oh ! the snow, the beautiful snow ! How

the flakes gather and laugh as they

Whirling about in their maddening fun ;

It plays in its glee with every one.

Chasing, laughing, hurrying by, It

lights on the face and sparkles the eye;

And the dogs, with a bark and a bound, '

Snap at the crystals that eddy around.

The town is alive, and it's heart's in a

glow To welcome the coming of the

beautiful sno^ How wildly the crowd goes

swaying along, Hailing each other with

humour and song » How the gay sledges

like meteors flash by, Bright for a

moment, then lost to the eye — Ringing,

swinging, dashing they go, Over the

crust of the beautiful snow ; Snow, so

pure when it falls from the sky, As to

make one regret to see it lie, i To be

trampled and tracked by the thousandi p'

of feet Till it blends with the filth of

the Btreet. Once I was pure as the snow,

but I fell — Fell, like the snow flakes,

from heaven to ha'4 Fell, to be trampled

as filth in the street — Fell, to be

scoffed, to* be spit on, and beat.

Pleading — cursing — dreading to die,

Selling my soul to whoever would buy ;

Dealing G shame for a morsel of bread,

Hating the living, and fearing the dead

J Merciful God ! have I fallen so low ?

And yet I was once like the beautiful

snow I Once I was fair as the beautiful

snow, With an eye like its crystal, a

heart like iti * glow ; Once I was loved

for my innocent grace — Flattered and

sought the ch arias ofny face. Father,

mother, sister, and all, God, and

myself, I have lost by my falL The

veriest wretch that goes shivering by

Will make a wide swoop, lest I wander

t-jj nigh ; For all that is on or above

me I know, There's nothing so pure as

the beautiful snow How strange it should

be thai, this beausifj snow Should fall

on a sinner with nowhere to go; How

strange it should be, when night comi

again, If the snow and the ice struck my

desperafe brain 1 Fainting, freezing,

dying alone, Too wicked for prayer, too

weak for a moan fy-'' To be heard in the

street of the crazy town, Gone mad in

the joy of the snow comiai down ; To be

and to die in my terrible woe, With a

bed and a shroud of the bs&ntifo . '

snow