December By The Mountains Poem by Francis Duggan

December by the mountains the mountains far away
And the old fields by the high wood in the morning looking gray
It has been freezing overnight a cold chill is in the breeze
And the hungry rooks are calling on the leafless old beech trees.

December by the mountains and bank high the mountain rill
In the cold gray of the dawning goes babbling down the hill
The blackbird scrape the leaf litter beside the bare hedgerow
And the hill above the woodland stands in his hat of snow.

The greyness of each breath you exhale hangs in the frosty air
And to warm the coldness in his bones the shy brown mountain hare
Races up and down the high field even he does feel the cold
To watch him race at top speed is quite marvellous to behold.

In December by the mountains the mountains far from here
The migrant redwings are chirping in the cold of the old year
And the cattle in the farmyard sheds are bellowing for hay
And a lot of Wintery weather till the flowers will bloom in May.