Snow

Hello friends! It’s winter here in the northern hemisphere, and in Texas we rarely, if ever, get snow. A couple weekends ago, we had the good fortune of seeing a couple hours of snow, even though it didn’t stick.

One of my favorite musicians, Loreena McKennitt, does a musical version of this poem, and it’s lovely. The poem itself makes me wish I live somewhere with snow, even though I despise the cold. It’s about a walk in snowy woods, and the simplicity is something I would love to have in my own life.

Snow by Archibald Lampman

White are the far-off plains, and white
    The fading forests grow;
    The wind dies out along the height,
    And denser still the snow,
    A gathering weight on roof and tree,
    Falls down scarce audibly.

The road before me smooths and fills
Apace, and all about
The fences dwindle, and the hills
Are blotted slowly out;
The naked trees loom spectrally
Into the dim white sky.

The meadows and far-sheeted streams
    Lie still without a sound;
    Like some soft minister of dreams
    The snow-fall hoods me round;
    In wood and water, earth and air,
    A silence everywhere.

Save when at lonely intervals
    Some farmer’s sleigh, urged on,
    With rustling runners and sharp bells,
    Swings by me and is gone;
    Or from the empty waste I hear
    A sound remote and clear;

The barking of a dog, or call
    To cattle, sharply pealed,
    Borne echoing from some wayside stall
    Or barnyard far a-field;
    Then all is silent, and the snow
    Falls, settling soft and slow.

The evening deepens, and the gray
    Folds closer earth and sky;
    The world seems shrouded far away;
    Its noises sleep, and I,
As secret as yon buried stream,
  Plod dumbly on, and dream.

Archibald Lampman

Have any great ideas for my blog? Let me know by clicking Contact Me up at the top! You can always follow me on social media by clicking the buttons for the various sites up at the top, too. If you like what I wrote and want to support my writing, you can subscribe to my blog. Feeling really generous? I’d love if you’d buy me a cup of tea by clicking the Buy Me a Coffee button!