In drear nighted December, 
   Too happy, happy tree, 
Thy branches ne'er remember 
   Their green felicity—
The north cannot undo them 
With a sleety whistle through them 
Nor frozen thawings glue them 
   From budding at the prime.

In drear-nighted December, 
   Too happy, happy brook, 
Thy bubblings ne'er remember 
   Apollo's summer look; 
But with a sweet forgetting, 
They stay their crystal fretting, 
Never, never petting 
   About the frozen time.

Ah! would 'twere so with many 
   A gentle girl and boy—
But were there ever any 
   Writh'd not of passed joy? 
The feel of not to feel it, 
When there is none to heal it 
Nor numbed sense to steel it, 
   Was never said in rhyme.