Winter Reflections

And in the frosty season, when the sun
Was set, and visible for many a mile
The cottage windows blazed through twilight gloom,
I heeded not their summons : happy time
It was indeed for all of us – for me
It was a time of rapture !... while far distant hills
Into the tumult sent an alien sound
Of melancholy not unnoticed, while the stars
Eastward were sparkling clear, and in the west
The orange sky of evening died away...
...and I stood and watched
Till all was tranquil as a dreamless sleep.

Extract from "The Prelude," by William Wordsworth