Wintertime Is Here!

Hello everyone –

Winter has finally arrived in East Central Illinois, with a dusting of snow and single-digit temperatures to kick off the “spring” semester at the University of Illinois! 😊 Here are three poems about the wintertime for you to enjoy as you sit by the fire with a hot cup of tea. And BTW, to learn more about the Way of Tea, please be sure to visit my Japan House friends @ https://japanhouse.illinois.edu.

 

“Winter”

By Walter de la Mare (1873-1956)

Clouded with snow

The cold winds blow,

And shrill on leafless bough

The robin with its burning breast

Alone sings now.

The rayless Sun,

Day's journey done,

Sheds its last ebbing light

On fields in leagues of beauty spread

Unearthly white.

Thick draws the dark,

And spark by spark,

The frost-fires kindle, and soon

Over that sea of frozen foam

Floats the white Moon.

 

“A Calendar of Sonnets: January”

By Helen Hunt Jackson (1830-1885)

O Winter! frozen pulse and heart of fire,

What loss is theirs who from thy kingdom turn

Dismayed, and think thy snow a sculptured urn

Of death! Far sooner in midsummer tire

The streams than under ice. June could not hire

Her roses to forego the strength they learn

In sleeping on thy breast. No fires can burn

The bridges thou dost lay where men desire

In vain to build. O Heart, when Love's sun goes

To northward, and the sounds of singing cease,

Keep warm by inner fires, and rest in peace.

Sleep on content, as sleeps the patient rose.

Walk boldly on the white untrodden snows,

The winter is the winter's own release.

 

“Winter-Time”

From A Child’s Garden of Verses (1885)

By Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)

Late lies the wintry Sun a-bed,

A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;

Blinks but an hour or two; and then,

A blood-red orange, sets again.

Before the stars have left the skies,

At morning in the dark I rise;

And shivering in my nakedness,

By the cold candle, bathe and dress.

Close by the jolly fire I sit

To warm my frozen bones a bit;

Or with a reindeer-sled, explore

The colder countries round the door.

When to go out, my nurse doth wrap

Me in my comforter and cap;

The cold wind burns my face, and blows

Its frosty pepper up my nose.

Black are my steps on silver sod;

Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;

And tree and house, and hill and lake,

Are frosted like a wedding cake.

Numa Pompilius (reigned 715-673 BCE), the second King of Rome, was also a renowned philosopher and (according to tradition) a star pupil of the Greek philosopher Pythagoras. Among many other accomplishments, Numa reformed the ancient Roman calendar such that January became the first month of the year (instead of March). In this painting, we see King Numa consulting with the nymph Egeria about a package of legislation that would, in later centuries, evolve into the famous Twelve Tables of Roman law. (Image Credit: Public Domain)

Until next time – stay warm!

Rob