Yesterday the fields were only grey with scattered snow,  
And now the longest grass-leaves hardly emerge;  
Yet her deep footsteps mark the snow, and go  
On towards the pines at the hills' white verge.  
  
I cannot see her, since the mist's white scarf        
Obscures the dark wood and the dull orange sky;  
But she's waiting, I know, impatient and cold, half  
Sobs struggling into her frosty sigh.  
  
Why does she come so promptly, when she must know  
That she's only the nearer to the inevitable farewell;        
The hill is steep, on the snow my steps are slow—  
Why does she come, when she knows what I have to tell?