Agnes Maule Machar (1837-1927)
Text from A Century of Canadian Sonnets.
January
The soft blue touch of turquoise, crystal clear,
Curves o'er white hills and rivers' frozen flow,
Draped in a virgin robe of dazzling snow
That veils the silent landscape far and near,
Swathing the withered herbage brown and sere,
And the tall dusky pines that--sweeping low
Their long dark branches--violet shadows throw
Across the stainless marble of the mere.
Hark! through the stillness break the glad sleigh-bells
In silvery cadence through the frosty air;
Of happy hearts their merry music tells;--
Of glad home-comings--meetings everywhere;
But late we owned the sway of Christmas spells;
Now New Year chimes ring out the call to prayer!
