Wetherald, Ethelwyn. “February.” A Century of Canadian Sonnets. Ed. Lawrence J. Burpee. Toronto: Musson, 1910. 8.

This was not the first printing of this poem; Burpee’s text is a collection mostly of already-published poetry. Still, even the reprinted poetry of the time is obscure to readers today, so hopefully you will enjoy this.

February

O Master-Builder, blustering as you go
About your giant work, transforming all
The empty woods into a glittering hall,
And making lilac lanes and footpaths grow
As hard as iron under stubborn snow,
Though every fence stand forth a marble wall,
And windy hollows drift that shall your might o’erthrow.
Build high your white and dazzling palaces,
Strengthen your bridges, fortify your towers,
Storm with a loud and portentous lip;
And April with a fragmentary breeze,
And half a score of gentle, golden hours,
Shall leave no trace of your stern workmanship.