Swiftly the blizzard stretched a frozen arm
From out the hollow night-
Stripping the world of all her scarlet pomp,
And muffling her in white.

Dead white the hills; dead white the soundless plain;
Dead white the blizzard's breath-
Heavy with hoar that touched each woodland thing
With a white and silent death.

In inky stupor, along the drifted snow,
The sluggish river rolled-
A numb black snake caught lingering in the sun
By autumn's sudden cold.