In The Cold And Damp Dawn

An overnight frost has left the fields looking gray In the cold and damp dawn of a December day And only house sparrows the birds that cannot sing Chirp on the bare trees ten weeks from the Spring For blackbirds and thrushes on the frost hardened ground Worms and slugs are quite hard to be found In Northern Winters birds frail and old In their thousands die in weather damp and cold, From yesterday's heavy rain flood waters of brown Are flowing bank high in the fields by the town In latter December with January near The weather wet and cold at the end of the old year And the hungry cattle in the farmyard cattle shed In the cold gray dawn bellow for to be fed.