Celebrating the Winter Solstice with a Quartet of Poems!

Hello everyone –

This edition of Quotemail is dedicated to the Winter Solstice, when the Sun reaches its southernmost point on the celestial sphere as viewed from Earth. Winter officially begins @ 4:23 PM (CST) on Friday, December 21^st, which marks the shortest day and longest night of the year. After the Winter Solstice, the days will grow longer, and the nights will grow shorter, until the Summer Solstice next June 21^st. In the meantime, here’s a collection of poems about wintertime and the circling seasons.

“The Night Before Finals”

By Yours Truly (2005)

‘Twas the night before finals, and all through the dorm,

Not a student was sleeping, for that was the norm.

When on the South Quad there arose such a clatter,

Students rose from their books to see what was the matter.

And there on the face of the new-fallen snow

A message was written in letters aglow.

A scribe unbeknownst on the snowfield did write:

“A kewl Yule to you all, and to all a good night!”

“The North Wind Doth Blow”

(Traditional English Rhyme – 16^th Century)

The north wind doth blow, and we shall have snow.

And what will poor robin do then, poor thing?

He’ll sit in a barn, and keep himself warm,

And hide his head under his wing, poor thing.

The north wind doth blow, and we shall have snow.

And what will the dormouse do then, poor thing?

Rolled up like a ball, in his nest snug and small,

He’ll sleep till warm weather comes in, poor thing.

The north wind doth blow, and we shall have snow.

And what will the children do then, poor things?

When lessons are done, they must skip, hop, and run,

Until they have made themselves warm, poor things.

“Up and Down”

By George MacDonald (1824-1905)

Excerpted from At the Back of the North Wind (1871) – Chapter 37

The Sun is gone down, and the Moon’s in the sky;

But the Sun will come up, and the Moon be laid by.

The flower is asleep, but it is not dead;

When the morning shines, it will lift its head.

When winter comes, it will die – no, no;

It will only hide from the frost and the snow.

Sure is the summer, sure is the Sun;

The night and the winter are shadows that run.

“Welcome to the Sun”

Anonymous – Collected in Scotland (19th Century)

Note: In the Germanic, Keltik, and Slavic languages – as well as in Japanese – the Sun is feminine and the Moon is masculine.

Welcome to you, Sun of the seasons’ turning,

In your circuit of the high heavens;

Strong are your steps on the unfurled heights,

Glad Mother are you to the constellations.

You sink down into the ocean of want,

Without defeat, without scathe;

You rise up on the peaceful wave

Like a Queen in her maidenhood's flower.

Quotemail will be taking a short hiatus during the hollydaze break, but it will resume its fortnightly publication schedule on Friday, January 4^th, 2019.

In the meantime, may the calendar keep bringing Happy Hollydaze to you! :)

Rob

“Eala Earendel engla beorhtast,

Ofer middangeard monnum sended.”

-- Cynewulf (Old English poet, fl. 9^th century CE)