In the grip of winter

Here is a short poem by Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts (1860-1943), not a well-known poet these days, but often called the father of Canadian poetry. He was one of the first Canadian writers to be known internationally and wrote both prose and poetry.

This concise poem wonderfully captures that hopeful sense of spring (very faint in February) waiting behind a frozen world. It moves us deftly from snow and cold to a glimpse of warmth and green.

THE BROOK IN FEBRUARY

A snowy path for squirrel and fox,
  It winds between the wintry firs.
Snow-muffled are its iron rocks,
  And o'er its stillness nothing stirs.

But low, bend low a listening ear!
   Beneath the mask of moveless white
A babbling whisper you shall hear--
   Of birds and blossoms, leaves and light.