Sarah Doudney:
(15 January 1841, Portsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire – 8 December 1926, Oxford).
English fiction writer and poet. She is best known for her children’s literature and her hymns.
Farewell, old year; we walk no more together; I catch the sweetness of thy latest sigh, and, crowned with yellow brake and withered heather, I see thee stand beneath this cloudy sky. Here in the dim light of a grey December we part in smiles, and yet we met in tears; watching thy chilly dawn, I well remember I thought — the saddest-born of all the years.
A small bird twitters on a leafless spray, across the snow-waste breaks a gleam of gold. What token can I give my friend today? But February blossoms, pure and cold? Frail gifts from nature’s half-reluctant hand. I see the signs of spring about the land. These chill snowdrops, fresh from wintry bowers, are the forerunners of a world of flowers.
