In the jolly winters
Of the long-ago--
Was it HALF so cold as now?
O! No! No!
Who caught his death o' cold,
Making prints of men
Flat-backed in snow that now's
Twice as cold again?


IV


In the jolly winters
Of the dead-and-gone,
Startin' out rabbit-huntin'--
Early as the dawn,--
Who ever froze his fingers,
Ears, heels, or toes,--
Or'd 'a' cared if he had?
Nobody knows!


V


Nights by the kitchen-stove,
Shellin' white and red