Winter

The wintry west extends his blast,
   And hail and rain does blaw;
Or the stormy north sends driving forth
   The blinding sleet and snaw;
Wild-tumbling brown, the burn comes down,
   And roars frae bank to brae;
While bird and beast in covert rest,
   And pass the heartless day.

The sweeping blast, the sky o'ercast,'
   The joyless winter day
Let others fear, to me more dear
   Than all the pride of May;
The tempest's howl, it soothes my soul,
   My griefs it seems to join'
The leafless trees my fancy please,
   Their fate resembles mine!

Thou Pow'r Supreme, whose mighty scheme
   These woes of mine fulfil,
Here, firm I rest, they must be best,
   Because they are Thy will!
Then all I want (O, do Thou grant
   This one request of mine!);
Since to enjoy Thou dost deny,
   Assist me to resign.

~ Robert Burns (January 25, 1759 - July 21, 1796)  Scottish Bard
Poems and Songs of Robert Burns, Collins, 1955.
*Front Cover Pitkin Pictorials Ltd., 1973,  Portrait of Burns by Alexander Nasmyth, painted in 1828, 32 years after the poet's death.