When winter winds are piercing chill,
And through the hawthorn blows the gale,
With solemn feet I tread the hill,
That overbrows the lonely vale.

O’er the bare upland, and away
Through the long reach of desert woods,
The embracing sunbeams chastely play,
And gladden these deep solitudes.

Where, twisted round the barren oak,
The summer vine in beauty clung,
And summer winds the stillness broke,
The crystal icicle is hung.

Where, from their frozen urns, mute springs
Pour out the river’s gradual tide,
Shrilly the skater’s iron rings,
And voices fill the woodland side.

Alas! how changed from the fair scene,
When birds sang out their mellow lay,
And winds were soft, and woods were green,
And the song ceased not with the day!

But still wild music is abroad,
Pale, desert woods! within your crowd;
And gathering winds, in hoarse accord,
Amid the vocal reeds pipe loud.

Chill airs and wintry winds! my ear
Has grown familiar with your song;
I hear it in the opening year,
I listen, and it cheers me long.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem Woods in Winter

2 Comments

  1. Melanee says:

    I enjoyed reading Longfellow’s ‘Woods in Winter’ where he writes of his nostalgia of summer during the winter season. In the poem you can see where it connects with the Romantic era Longfellow lived in. The natural imagery throughout the poem makes it all the more vivid. He personifies nature with lines such as “embracing sunbeams chastely play”. Overall, I liked it because of his vibrant descriptions.

  2. lacey says:

    i feel this poem gives the world a layer of clothing. telling how each season progresses to another.reading this poem lifted my day so much!!!

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