THE snow had begun in the gloaming, And busily all the night Had been heaping field and highway With a silence deep and white. Every pine and fir and hemlock Wore ermine too dear for an earl, And the poorest twig on the elm-tree Was ridged inch deep with pearl. From sheds new-roofed with Carrara Came Chanticleer’s muffled crow, The stiff rails were softened to swan’s down, And still fluttered down the snow. I stood and watched by the window The noiseless work of the sky, And the sudden flurries of snow-birds, Like brown leaves whirling by. I thought of a mound in sweet Auburn Where a little headstone stood; How the flakes were folding it gently, As did robins the babes in the wood. Up spoke our own little Mabel, Saying, “Father, who makes it snow?” And I told of the good All-father Who cares for us here below. Again I looked at the snow-fall And thought of the leaden sky That arched o’er our first great sorrow, When that mound was heaped so high. I remembered the gradual patience That fell from that cloud like snow, Flake by flake, healing and hiding The scar of our deep-plunged woe. And again to the child I whispered, “The snow that husheth all, Darling, the merciful Father Alone can make it fall!” Then, with eyes that saw not, I kissed her; And she, kissing back, could not know That _my_ kiss was given to her sister, Folded close under deepening snow. * * * * * FOURTH OF JULY ODE. I. OUR fathers fought for liberty, They struggled long and well, History of their deeds can tell―― But did they leave us free? II. Are we free from vanity, Free from pride, and free from self, Free from love of power and pelf, From everything that’s beggarly? III. Are we free from stubborn will, From low hate and malice small, From opinion’s tyrant thrall? Are none of us our own slaves still? IV. Are we free to speak our thought, To be happy, and be poor, Free to enter Heaven’s door, To live and labor as we ought? V. Are we then made free at last From the fear of what men say, Free to reverence To-day, Free from the slavery of the Past? VI. Our fathers fought for liberty, They struggled long and well, History of their deeds can tell―― But _ourselves_ must set us free. * * * * * THE DANDELION.