“The wind may blow the snow about,
For all I care, says Jack,
And I don’t mind how cold it grows,
For then the ice won’t crack.
Old folks may shiver all day long,
But I shall never freeze;
What cares a jolly boy like me
For winter days like these?”
–Sarah Orne Jewett, “A Country Boy in Winter”
Do you, as Wallace Stevens said, “have a mind of winter”? Do you get lost in thoughts of snow-laden tree branches and frost-covered windows? Or are you of another mind altogether; a mind that leans towards warmer climes and shuts down at the thought of putting on another layer of thermal clothing? Well, we have a list of seasonal poems to suit either mindset. Would you rather celebrate the winter weather in Baer’s “Snowflake” or wallow in the cold despair it can bring in Rexroth’s “The Bad Old Days”? Take a look at these other chilly POL poems:
“Birches” by Robert Frost–All the ice-covered trees you need
“I Know, I Remember, But How Can I Help You” by Hayden Carruth–The northern lights and doe, a deer
“Icebound” by Walter Bargen–Slipperiness
“Preludes” by T.S. Eliot–Lonely winter mornings and evenings
“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost–The woods are lovely, dark and deep
“The Darkling Thrush” by Thomas Hardy–Respite from winter gloom in the form of birdsong
“The Snow is Deep” by Kenneth Patchen–The simple beauty of snow
“The Snow-Storm” by Ralph Waldo Emerson–Wind as artist, snow as medium
Stay warm!