LESSON 52

THE SNOW MAN

雪　人

1．Look! how the clouds are flying south!

The winds pipe⁽¹⁾ loud and shrill!

And high above the white drifts stands

The snow man on the hill.

2．Blow, wild wind from the icy north!

Here's one who will not fear

To feel thy coldest touch, or shrink⁽²⁾

Thy loudest blast to hear.

3．Proud triumph⁽³⁾ of the schoolboy's skill!

Far rather would I be

A winter giant, ruling o’er

A frosty realm⁽⁴⁾, like thee,

4．And stand amid the drifted snow,

Like thee, a thing apart,

Than be a man who walks with men,

But has a frozen heart!

(Marian Douglas)

EXERCISES.—With what is the snow man compared in this poem? What is meant by a man with “a frozen heart”? Do you think such a man would follow the Golden Rule?