Jagg'd mountain peaks and skies ice-green br Wall in the wild, cold scene below. br Churches, farms, bare copse, the sea br In freezing quiet of winter show; br Where ink-black shapes on fields in flood br Curling, skating, and sliding go. br To left, a gabled tavern; a blaze; br Peasants; a watching child; and lo, br Muffled, mute--beneath naked trees br In sharp perspective set a-row-- br Trudge huntsmen, sinister spears aslant, br Dogs snuffling behind them in the snow; br And arrowlike, lean, athwart the air br Swoops into space a crow. br br But flame, nor ice, nor piercing rock, br Nor silence, as of a frozen sea, br Nor that slant inward infinite line br Of signboard, bird, and hill, and tree, br Give more than subtle hint of him br Who squandered here life's mystery.