The Picture After the Storm 291 



household pathways and the public walks. There 

 more than on the lower levels might be seen 

 what Emerson has pictured so finely in a poem 

 which so fits this wonderful display that it may 

 well be quoted here entire : 



THE SNOW-STORM 



Announced by all the trumpets of the sky 

 Arrives the snow, and driving o er the fields, 

 Seems nowhere to alight ; the whited air 

 Hides hills and woods, the river and the heaven, 

 And veils the farm-house at the garden s end. 

 The sled and traveler stopped, the courier s feet 

 Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit 

 Around the radiant fire-place, inclosed 

 In a tumultuous privacy of storm. 

 Come see the north wind s masonry. 

 Out of an unseen quarry evermore 

 Furnished with tile, the fierce artificer 

 Curves his white bastions with projected roof 

 Round every windward stake or tree or door. 

 Speeding, the myriad-handed, his wild work, 

 So fanciful, so savage, naught cares he 

 For number or proportion. Mockingly 

 On coop or kennel he hangs Parian wreaths 

 A swan-like form invests the hidden thorn ; 

 Fills up the farmer s lane from wall to wall, 

 Maugre the farmer s sighs ; and at the gate 

 A tapering turret overtops the work. 



