In a few days or weeks thereafter , the passer-by would observe a shapeless mound upon the level common ; and , unmindful of the famous victory , would ask , `` How came it there ? Who reared it ? And what means it ? '' The shattered pedestal of many a battle monument has provoked these questions , when none could answer . Turn we again to the fireside , and sit musing there , lending our ears to the wind , till perhaps it shall seem like an articulate voice , and dictate wild and airy matter for the pen . Would it might inspire me to sketch out the personification of a New England winter ! And that idea , if I can seize the snow-wreathed figures that flit before my fancy , shall be the theme of the next page . How does Winter herald his approach ? By the shrieking blast of latter autumn , which is Nature 's cry of lamentation , as the destroyer rushes among the shivering groves where she has lingered , and scatters the sear leaves upon the tempest . When that cry is heard , the people wrap themselves in cloaks , and shake their heads disconsolately , saying , `` Winter is at hand ! '' Then the axe of the woodcutter echoes sharp and diligently in the forest ; then the coal-merchants rejoice , because each shriek of Nature in her agony adds something to the price of coal per ton ; then the peat-smoke spreads its aromatic fragrance through the atmosphere . A few days more ; and at eventide , the children look out of the window , and dimly perceive the flaunting of a snowy mantle in the air . It is stern Winter 's vesture . They crowd around the hearth , and cling to their mother 's gown , or press between their father 's knees , affrighted by the hollow roaring voice , that bellows a-down the wide flue of the chimney . It is the voice of Winter ; and when parents and children bear it , they shudder and exclaim , `` Winter is come ! Cold Winter has begun his reign already ! '' Now , throughout New England , each hearth becomes an altar , sending up the smoke of a continued sacrifice to the immitigable deity who tyrannizes over forest , country side , and town . Wrapped in his white mantle , his staff a huge icicle , his beard and hair a wind-tossed snow-drift , he travels over the land , in the midst of the northern blast ; and woe to the homeless wanderer whom he finds upon his path ! There he lies stark and stiff , a human shape of ice , on the spot where Winter overtook him . On strides the tyrant over the rushing rivers and broad lakes , which turn to rock beneath his footsteps .
His dreary empire is established ; all around stretches the desolation XXXXX the Pole .
In around at before for of on over throughout upon