THICK ICE 



times when the winter ice on the pond 

 whoops and roars, and bellows and 

 whangs as if all Bedlam were let loose 

 and were celebrating Guy Fawkes day. 

 A mile away, of a still winter evening, 

 you may hear this and be dismayed, for 

 the groanings and bellowings are such as 

 belong to no monsters of the present day, 

 though they might be echoes of antede- 

 luvian battles corked within the earth 

 for ages and now for the first time let 

 loose. 



It is all very simple, of course, says 

 my friend the scientist. It is caused 

 by vibrations due to the expanding or 

 contracting of the ice, or the expanding 

 or contracting of a portion of it causing 

 big cracks to run hither and thither. It 

 means simply that a change in tempera- 

 ture is going on. 



But does it? Or if so, is that all it 

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