“_I Shall Live to be Old_” I shall live to be old, who feared I should die young, I shall live to be old, I shall cling to life as the leaves to the creaking oak In the rustle of falling snow and the cold. The other trees let loose their leaves on the air In their russet and red, I have lived long enough to wonder which is the best, And to envy sometimes the way of the early dead. _Wisdom_ It was a night of early spring, The winter-sleep was scarcely broken; Around us shadows and the wind Listened for what was never spoken. Though half a score of years are gone, Spring comes as sharply now as then-- But if we had it all to do It would be done the same again. It was a spring that never came, But we have lived enough to know What we have never had, remains; It is the things we have that go. _The Old Enemy_ Rebellion against death, the old rebellion Is over; I have nothing left to fight; Battles have always had their meed of music But peace is quiet as a windless night. Therefore I make no songs--I have grown certain Save when he comes too late, death is a friend, A shepherd leading home his flock serenely Under the planet at the evening’s end. VII BERKSHIRE NOTES _Winter Sun_ (Lenox) There was a bush with scarlet berries And there were hemlocks heaped with snow; With a sound like surf on long sea-beaches They took the wind and let it go. The hills were shining in their samite, Fold after fold they flowed away-- “Let come what may,” your eyes were saying, “At least we two have had to-day.” _A December Day_ Dawn turned on her purple pillow And late, late came the winter day, Snow was curved to the boughs of the willow, The sunless world was white and grey. At noon we heard a blue-jay scolding, At five the last thin light was lost From snow-banked windows faintly holding The feathery filigree of frost. _February Twilight_ I stood beside a hill Smooth with new-laid snow, A single star looked out From the cold evening glow. There was no other creature That saw what I could see-- I stood and watched the evening star As long as it watched me. “_I Have Seen the Spring_”