Velvet Shoes, Walking in Snow

E. H. Shephard, from "Wind in the Willows"

Searching for something seasonal, I turned to my father, who steered me to his favorite poem by Elinor Wylie. According to the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Wylie “was famous during her life almost as much for her ethereal beauty and personality as for her melodious, sensuous poetry.” Her reputation was the highest in the 1920’s and 1930’s, when my father was a child.  Enjoy.

Velvet Shoes

By Elinor Wylie

Let us walk in the white snow
In a soundless space;
With footsteps quiet and slow,
At a tranquil pace,
Under veils of white lace.

I shall go shod in silk,
And you in wool,
White as a white cow’s milk,
More beautiful
Than the breast of a gull.

We shall walk through the still town
In a windless peace;
We shall step upon white down,
Upon silver fleece,
Upon softer than these.

We shall walk in velvet shoes:
Wherever we go
Silence will fall like dews
On white silence below.
We shall walk in the snow.

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