The Frost was never seen —
If met, too rapid passed,
Or in too unsubstantial Team —
The Flowers notice first
A Stranger hovering round
A Symptom of alarm
In Villages remotely set
But search effaces him
Till some retrieveless Night
Our Vigilance at waste
The Garden gets the only shot
That never could be traced.
Unproved is much we know —
Unknown the worst we fear —
Of Strangers is the Earth the Inn
Of Secrets is the Air —
To analyze perhaps
A Philip would prefer
But Labor vaster than myself
I find it to infer.
