Calendar of Sonnets, A

<SPAN name="february"></SPAN> <h2><SPAN href="images/head-feb.png"><ANTIMG width-obs="40%" src="images/head-feb.png" alt="February." /></SPAN></h2> <p>Still lie the sheltering snows, undimmed and white;<br/> And reigns the winter's pregnant silence still;<br/> No sign of spring, save that the catkins fill,<br/> And willow stems grow daily red and bright.<br/> These are the days when ancients held a rite<br/> Of expiation for the old year's ill,<br/> And prayer to purify the new year's will:<br/> Fit days, ere yet the spring rains blur the sight,<br/> Ere yet the bounding blood grows hot with haste,<br/> And dreaming thoughts grow heavy with a greed<br/> The ardent summer's joy to have and taste;<br/> Fit days, to give to last year's losses heed,<br/> To reckon clear the new life's sterner need;<br/> Fit days, for Feast of Expiation placed!</p> <p align="center" style="margin: 0%"><SPAN href="images/vign-02.png"><ANTIMG width-obs="40%" src="images/vign-02.png" alt="Vignette 2" /></SPAN></p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />