A like in green or snowy pride
My ardent gaze you capture;
Now clad in white, a winter bride,
You fill my soul with rapture.

You stand there hushed as in a dream,
While starry twinklings cover
The waters of the dark North Stream,
Though Mälar's frozen over.

You 're like some tale of olden days,
When western skies are glowing
And high above the frozen bays
The purple deeps are showing.

The sunset gilds the towers there,
The roofs give back a shimmer
Like silver, while with flame-red glare
The castle windows glimmer.

With winter's ermine o'er you laid,
While church-bells toll serenely,
You shine in robe and crown arrayed,
A vision high and queenly.

You put all baser thoughts to flight,
All passions of the mart now,
Till in the silence of the night
I hear your beating heart now.

Your old proud look returns again,
All ugliness is banished,
The meanness and the lies of men
Before that glance have vanished.