I wonder, as I watch the falling snow,
How many of its flakes were ever tears
I shed for you weeks past and months ago,
Deluded that my love could hold you near.
So to a field with harsh, forbidding slopes
I bring myself and stomp the frozen ground;
Beneath the snowy sheets I slide my hopes
And pray no hour to come shall see them found.

But when the land is thawed and lying bare,
I come to pick them up, and they are gone --
They venture where my steps no longer dare:
They greet you as you tread spring's verdant lawns,
Inquiring if you have for me some news
To stop my tears that fall upon the dews.