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| A frosting of snow cakes the trees in Bridgewater on Thursday Morning. |
One of my favorite poets is John Greenleaf Whittier. He produced Snowbound, an idyllic tale which reads on for eighteen delightful pages in my library’s hardbound edition of his works.
Whittier, who was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts during the early 1800’s, wrote this magnificent piece in 1866, as a mature person reflecting upon and capturing the memories of his youth on a New England homestead, while a crippling nor’easter was about to descend upon him and his family.
Upon its first publication, Snowbound became an instant success, praised by academics of the time and read by thousands of admirers. According to an editor’s review, Whittier’s “first royalties were about ten thousand dollars,” a veritable fortune in the mid-1800’s, and nothing to sneeze at, even today.
Whittier, who was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts during the early 1800’s, wrote this magnificent piece in 1866, as a mature person reflecting upon and capturing the memories of his youth on a New England homestead, while a crippling nor’easter was about to descend upon him and his family.
Upon its first publication, Snowbound became an instant success, praised by academics of the time and read by thousands of admirers. According to an editor’s review, Whittier’s “first royalties were about ten thousand dollars,” a veritable fortune in the mid-1800’s, and nothing to sneeze at, even today.
This epic idyll of Whittier’s wintry tale and reminiscences of his life begins with:
The sun that brief December day
Rose cheerless over hills of gray,
And, darkly circled, gave at noon
A sadder light than waning moon. . .
It sank from sight before it set. . .
A hard dull bitterness of cold,
The coming of the snow-storm told.
The wind blew east; we heard the roar….
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| On Thursday, an impressionistic sun sets over Bridgewater. |
I was introduced to this work as a teenager in Maine, when snowstorms like the ones we are now experiencing in Bridgewater were a common occurrence.
I don’t know whether Whittier is taught these days in social studies classes at high schools, but he should be: One of the most compelling reasons is that he was not merely a great lyrical poet, but also a staunch abolitionist – at a time when it was very unpopular for a famous northern writer to hold such a view.
Whittier faced great personal and professional pressures because of his progressive vision against slavery: His public stance and his writings on the subject contributed to the first of two nervous breakdowns during his lifetime.
He published nearly one hundred forceful poems in defense of emancipation, never once faltering in his convictions.
I don’t know whether Whittier is taught these days in social studies classes at high schools, but he should be: One of the most compelling reasons is that he was not merely a great lyrical poet, but also a staunch abolitionist – at a time when it was very unpopular for a famous northern writer to hold such a view.
Whittier faced great personal and professional pressures because of his progressive vision against slavery: His public stance and his writings on the subject contributed to the first of two nervous breakdowns during his lifetime.
He published nearly one hundred forceful poems in defense of emancipation, never once faltering in his convictions.
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