Christina G. Rossetti

In the bleak midwinter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water read more

In the bleak midwinter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter,
Long ago.

Consider
The lilies of the field whose bloom is brief:--
We are as they;
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Consider
The lilies of the field whose bloom is brief:--
We are as they;
Like them we fade away
As doth a leaf.

Wood-pigeons cooed there, stock-doves nestled there;
My trees were full on songs and flowers and fruit,
Their read more

Wood-pigeons cooed there, stock-doves nestled there;
My trees were full on songs and flowers and fruit,
Their branches spread a city to the air.

For there is no friend like a sister, in calm or stormy weather, to cheer one on the tedious way, read more

For there is no friend like a sister, in calm or stormy weather, to cheer one on the tedious way, to fetch one if one goes astray, to lift one if one totters down, to strengthen whilst one stands.

Before green apples blush,
Before green nuts embrown,
Why, one day in the country
read more

Before green apples blush,
Before green nuts embrown,
Why, one day in the country
Is worth a month in town.