three o'clock
Ah , me ! it is a pure white winter idyl : how shall I sing it this bright , gay autumnal day ? It was a terrible night , that winter 's night , when she and the century were young together . The sun was lost at three o'clock : the snowy night came down like a white sheet , that flapped around the house , beat at the windows with its edges , and at last wrapped it in a close embrace . In the middle of the night , they thought they heard above the wind a voice crying , `` Christus , Christus ! '' in a foreign tongue . They opened the door , -- no easy task in the north wind that pressed its strong shoulders against it , -- but nothing was to be seen but the drifting snow .