A Quartet of February Poems

Hello everyone –

The month of February is here, with snowy days, starry nights, and the coldest weather of the season so far. Here are some poems to celebrate the month of February, from two of my favorite American poets – Helen Hunt Jackson and Sara Teasdale.

 

“A Calendar of Sonnets: February”

By Helen Hunt Jackson (1830-1885)

Still lie the sheltering snows, undimmed and white;

And reigns the winter's pregnant silence still;

No sign of spring, save that the catkins fill,

And willow stems grow daily red and bright.

These are days when ancients held a rite

Of expiation for the old year's ill,

And prayer to purify the new year's will:

Fit days, ere yet the spring rains blur the sight,

Ere yet the bounding blood grows hot with haste,

And dreaming thoughts grow heavy with a greed

The ardent summer's joy to have and taste;

Fit days, to give to last year's losses heed,

To recon clear the new life's sterner need;

Fit days, for Feast of Expiation placed!

 

This trio of poems comes from Sara Teasdale (1884-1933), and all of them (not surprisingly, for longtime listmembers) deal with the night sky and its wonders.

 

“February Twilight”

I stood beside a hill

Smooth with new-laid snow,

A single star looked out

From the cold evening glow.

There was no other creature

That saw what I could see –

I stood and watched the Evening Star

As long as it watched me.

 

“Winter Stars”

I went out at night alone;

The young blood flowing beyond the sea

Seemed to have drenched my spirit’s wings —

I bore my sorrow heavily.

But when I lifted up my head

From shadows shaken on the snow,

I saw Orion in the east

Burn steadily as long ago.

From windows in my father’s house,

Dreaming my dreams on winter nights,

I watched Orion as a girl

Above another city’s lights.

Years go, dreams go, and youth goes too,

The world’s heart breaks beneath its wars,

All things are changed, save in the east

The faithful beauty of the stars.

 

“Arcturus”

Arcturus brings the spring back

As surely now as when

He rose on eastern islands

For Grecian girls and men;

The twilight is as clear a blue,

The star as shaken and as bright,

And the same thought he gave to them

He gives to me tonight.

 

Editor’s Note: Arcturus is a bright orange giant star, located 37 light-years from Earth, in the constellation Boötes (the Herdsman). It is just possible that King Arthur was named after this star, which is also known as Arctophylax (the Guardian of the Pole) – a name is also applied to its entire constellation. Arcturus was also the subject of the classic science fiction novel A Voyage to Arcturus, by David Lindsay, published in 1920, which influenced two giants of British literature in the 20^th century – J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis.

A 17th-century Dutch illustration of the constellation Bootes the Herdsman, showing its brightest star, Arcturus, a/k/a Arctophylax, the "Guardian of the Pole."

 

Until next time – keep looking up! 😊

 

Rob