John Frost, by Robert Leighton

John Frost

The arch-eyed sun stands in the east, amazed
To find the earth white-sheeted like a ghost,
The russet-mantled earth on which he gazed
Last eve, and had no thought of thee, John Frost.
How busy thou hast been all night, John Frost!   Thou hast been in the woods, and, with a breath,
Still'd all their swaying limbs: transform'd they stand,
Stone giants, held by the enchanted death
Of Eastern tales: majestically grand
The silence they are keeping in the land!   Thou hast been on the hill and in the glen:
And garrulous rocks that held a dripping speech,
Now dumbly sit, like ancient graybeard men,
Peering through rheumy eyes, each into each,
Their language quite escaped beyond their reach.   Thy mystic foot has been upon the lake:
Like a sea monster on dry land, it lies
Pow'rless and wond'ring crowds come round and make
A marvel of it, gazing in its eyes,
And walking o'er its back in wild surprise.   Thou hast been in the lanes and quiet nooks,
And playing like a breath about the meads,
Over the moonbeams, and bedeck'd the reeds
With strings of milk-white coral and crystal beads.   Thou hast new-strung the air, John Frost, and things,
That had no voice for music, find a note.
Most delicate sounds come sweeping, like birds' wings,
Or on the sea of blue air gently float,
Lisping as 'twere the rocking of a boat.   The roads across the country seem to speak,
And tell us of the carrier's heavy wains,
Long miles before they come: a jolt, a creak--
Anon the airy sweep of tinkling chains,
And still the beat of hoofs on far-off plains.   Earth, air, and water have proclaim'd a king;
We treat him as a knave, and call him Jack--
Misfortune of a too familiar thing!
A heaven of freshness if we would not lack,
We must be born anew, or wander back.   Old Habit serves us well; but we have sold
A kingly birthright for it. It has cost
Uncounted times its worth of life's best gold--
The mystery of common things all lost--
The king, the very god, in thee, John Frost.

poems.one - Robert Leighton

Robert Leighton