The Magic of Winter

Winter Time
by Robert Louis Stevenson

Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,
A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;
Blinks but an hour or two; and then,
A blood-red orange, sets again.

Before the stars have left the skies,
At morning in the dark I rise;
And shivering in my nakedness,
By the cold candle, bathe and dress.

Close by the jolly fire I sit
To warm my frozen bones a bit;
Or with a reindeer-sled, explore
The colder countries round the door.

When to go out, my nurse doth wrap
Me in my comforter and cap;
The cold wind burns my face, and blows
Its frosty pepper up my nose.

Black are my steps on silver sod;
Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;
And tree and house, and hill and lake,
Are frosted like a wedding cake.

Winter Night

It snowed and snowed, the whole world over,
Snow swept the world from end to end.
A candle burned on the table;
A candle burned.

As during summer midges swarm
To beat their wings against a flame
Out in the yard the snowflakes swarmed
To beat against the window pane

The blizzard sculptured on the glass
Designs of arrows and of whorls.
A candle burned on the table;
A candle burned.

Distorted shadows fell
Upon the lighted ceiling:
Shadows of crossed arms,of crossed legs-
Of crossed destiny.

Two tiny shoes fell to the floor
And thudded.
A candle on a nightstand shed wax tears
Upon a dress.

All things vanished within
The snowy murk-white,hoary.
A candle burned on the table;
A candle burned.

A corner draft fluttered the flame
And the white fever of temptation
Upswept its angel wings that cast
A cruciform shadow

It snowed hard throughout the month
Of February, and almost constantly
A candle burned on the table;
A candle burned.

-- Boris Pasternak

Picture Books in Winter
by Robert Louis Stevenson

Summer fading, winter comes--
Frosty mornings, tingling thumbs,
Window robins, winter rooks,
And the picture story-books.

Water now is turned to stone
Nurse and I can walk upon;
Still we find the flowing brooks
In the picture story-books.

All the pretty things put by,
Wait upon the children's eye,
Sheep and shepherds, trees and crooks,
In the picture story-books.

We may see how all things are
Seas and cities, near and far,
And the flying fairies' looks,
In the picture story-books.

How am I to sing your praise,
Happy chimney-corner days,
Sitting safe in nursery nooks,
Reading picture story-books?

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Jack Frost
by Helen Bayley Davis

Someone painted pictures on my
Windowpane last night --
Willow trees with trailing boughs
And flowers, frosty white,

And lovely crystal butterflies;
But when the morning sun
Touched them with its golden beams,
They vanished one by one.

quote:

Originally posted by dear Inda:

A Story in the Snow
by Pearl Riggs Crouch

This morning, as I walked to school
Across the fluffy snow,
I came upon a bunny's tracks --
A jumping, zigzag row.

He must have hurried very fast,
For here and there I saw
Along his jerky, winding trail
The print of Rover's paw.

I set my lunch pail on the snow
And stood there very still,
For only Rover's clumsy tracks
Led down the little hill.

Then suddenly I thought I heard
A rustling sound close by;
And there within a grassy clump
Shone bunny's twinkling eye.

OK OK, I don't have the BEEEAUTIFUL poems to post! Lovely!

So I'll just post some fun-ease! he he..

Lookie here: http://www.coolnotions.com/AGifs/gifs38.htm

following is from:
http://birding.about.com/library/blclip-holwinter31.htm


Love and light being, Teo Do (Re, Mi, Far....)

I like winter because it is fun. It's fun because there's snow everywhere! I like snow, especially when it is white and clean.

Tang poetry

Before my bed, the moonlight shines,
Could it be the frost, covering the ground?
I raise my head, look at the bright moon,
I set back, and think of my native land.

(Translations are never completely accurate)

yoko

Winter by Tommy Makem

WINTER, a sharp bitter day
the robin turns plump against the cold
the sun is week
silver faded from gold
he is late in his coming and short in his stay


Man, beast, bird and air all purging, all cleansing, earth already purified awaits the rite of spring
Her bridal gown a virgin snow and frosts in her hair
A snowdrop by the road today bowed gracefully and high upon the wing up in the sparkling nothingness, a lone bird
began to sing
Can gentle spring be far away?

Thank you Teo and yoko. I love the images.
The cat is being so naughty



I Heard a Bird Sing

I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December
A magical thing
And sweet to remember.

"We are nearer to Spring
Than we were in September,"
I heard a bird sing,
In the dark of December.

Oliver Herford

From: The Bells

By Edgar Allan Poe


Hear the sledge with the bells,
Silver bells!
What a world of merryment their melody foretells!
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
In the icy air of night!
While the stars that oversprinkle
All the heavens seem to twinkle
With a crystalline delight;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the tintinabulation that so musically wells
From the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells-
From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.

Blow, blow, thou winter wind
by William Shakespeare


Blow, blow, thou winter wind,
Thou art not so unkind
As man's ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen,
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.
Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then, heigh-ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.

Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,
That does not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot:
Though thou the waters warp,
Thy sting is not so sharp
As friend remembered not.
Heigh-ho! sing . . .

Spellbound
by Emily Brontë


The night is darkening round me,
The wild winds coldly blow;
But a tyrant spell has bound me
And I cannot, cannot go.

The giant trees are bending
Their bare boughs weighed with snow.
And the storm is fast descending,
And yet I cannot go.

Clouds beyond clouds above me,
Wastes beyond wastes below;
But nothing drear can move me;
I will not, cannot go.

The Snow Man

by Wallace Stevens


One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place

For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

It IS getting sort of cold...

Robert Frost


Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer


To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake


To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,


But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

Anonymous Frontier Guard (8th century)
Japanese

While the leaves of the bamboo rustle
On a cold and frosty night,
The seven layers of clobber i wear
Are not so warm, not so warm
As the body of my wife.

Thank you Administrator and yoko.



Song

A window bird sate mourning for her love
Upon a wintry bough;
The frozen wind crept on above,
The freezing stream below.

There was no leaf upon the forest bare,
No flower upon the ground,
And little motion in the air
Except the mill-wheel's sound.

Percy Byshe Shelley

The Joy of the Snowflake

If I were a snowflake,
Drifting freely in the sky,
I'd make sure of my direction-
To fly, and fly, and fly-
There is a direction for me on earth.

I won't go to the lonely sequestered vale,
I won't go to the foothill so quiet and cool,
Nor shall I loiter sadly in a deserted street-
I'll just fly, and fly, and fly-
You see, I have my direction.

Gracefully I shall dance in the sky
Until I've spotted that pleasant place,
Until she comes out to see the garden-
I'll fly, and fly, and fly-
Ah, there is a subtle scent of the plum blossom on her.

Then I'll count on my body being so light
Gently I'll cling to the lapel of her robe,
I'll cling softly to the soft waves of her bosom-
To melt away, and melt away, and melt away-
Melt into the soft waves of her bosom.

Chinese Traditional

From Revery
By Mihaly Vorosmarty

...For thy love,
On yonder mountain high,
I'd be a tree and dare
My head to storm-winds bare;
Each winter willing die
For thy love...

Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966)

The little cloud was up in the sky
Like a spread out fleece of grey squirrel.
He said "I am not sorry that your body,
Will melt in March, my fragile Snow Maiden."

My hands turned cold inside a fluffy muff.
Fear and confusion came to the heart.
O how can I retrieve those fleeting weeks
Of his love, so short and so capricious.

I want no bitter feeling, nor revenge,
May I decease with the last white snow.
I asked the cards about him on the Twelfth-Night Eve
I was already his friend in January.

Oooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, what a wonderful thread! I feel the magic of Winter deep deep within, always longing for the snowy landscapes I enjoyed in Switzerland.

I want to share my "White Silence" here again:

White Silence

The morning air carries
the fragrance of snow,
sparkling white beauty
reflecting in my eyes.

I plunge into this softness
this myriad of snowflakes
each a masterpiece of design
beholding a vision of peace.

My footprints across the field
a friendly message to the sky.
I am embraced by the woods,
aware of my perfect solitude.

My breath the only sound,
I let beauty and silence
enter and expand within
and my heartbeats dance.

I need not ask any questions
All answers resonate in my heart,
through the magnificence of nature
I hear the Divine language of Love.

Surrounded by infinite purity
I stand in stillness and awe
to Heaven I raise my voice,
whispering words of praise.

I touch upon the mystery of life
Merging with the glittering light
I am the snow, the sun, the sky
One with the Source, I shine.


Love and hugs. Have a beautiful Winter week! Advent with snow is magical.

Margherita

Thank you all for the wonderful winter thread.

Love,
Vicky

Winter Time

~Robert Louis Stevenson

Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,
A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;
Blinks but an hour or two; and then,
A blood-red orange, sets again.

Before the stars have left the skies,
At morning in the dark I rise;
And shivering in my nakedness,
By the cold candle, bathe and dress.

Close by the jolly fire I sit,
To warm my frozen bones a bit;
Or with a reindeer-sled, explore
The colder countries round the door.

When to go out, my nurse doth wrap
Me in my comforter and cap,
The cold wind burns my face, and blows
Its frosty pepper up my nose.

Black are my steps on silver sod;
Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;
And tree and house, and hill and lake,
Are frosted like a wedding-cake.
\

Robert Bateman

Thank you everyone for the lovely winter thread.
Our weather here has been very nice so far, and winter does have many beautiful scenes and moments.


Winter

The wintry west extends his blast,
And hail and rain does blaw;
Or the stormy north sends driving forth
The blinding sleet and snaw:
While, tumbling brown, the burn comes down,
And roars frae bank to brae;
And bird and beast in covert rest,
And pass the heartless day.

"The sweeping blast, the sky o'ercast,"
The joyless winter day
Let others fear, to me more dear
Than all the pride of May:
The tempest's howl, it soothes my soul,
My griefs it seems to join;
The leafless trees my fancy please,
Their fate resembles mine!

Thou Power Supreme, whose mighty scheme
These woes of mine fulfil,
Here firm I rest; they must be best,
Because they are Thy will!
Then all I want-O do Thou grant
This one request of mine!-
Since to enjoy Thou dost deny,
Assist me to resign.

Robert Burns



Artist: Robert Bateman

Winter is good-his Hoar Delights Italic flavor yield To Intellects inebriate With Summer, or the World-Generic as a Quarry And hearty-as a Rose- Invited with Asperity But welcome when he goes.

Emily Dickinson

Artist: Robert Bateman

This is a very beautiful thread.
Thank you.

Sincerely,
Gisele

LOVE OF WINTER
Atmospheric circulation patterns
Chances of heavy snowfall certain
Ultimate personal picture postcard
Solo frolic in the freezing fun.

Demand for designer snowshoes
The classic winter late delivery
Frontogenesis fantasia
I'll take it as it comes.

Scenes of the beauty blanket
Take me in your understanding grasp
I'll give you a rapid update
It's me cold Mother Nature loves.

David Suriano

An Old Man's Winter Night
by Robert Lee Frost

All out of doors looked darkly in at him
Through the thin frost, almost in separate stars,
That gathers on the pane in empty rooms.
What kept his eyes from giving back the gaze
Was the lamp tilted near them in his hand.
What kept him from remembering what it was
That brought him to that creaking room was age.
He stood with barrels round him -- at a loss.
And having scared the cellar under him
In clomping there, he scared it once again
In clomping off; -- and scared the outer night,
Which has its sounds, familiar, like the roar
Of trees and crack of branches, common things,
But nothing so like beating on a box.
A light he was to no one but himself
Where now he sat, concerned with he knew what,
A quiet light, and then not even that.
He consigned to the moon, such as she was,
So late-arising, to the broken moon
As better than the sun in any case
For such a charge, his snow upon the roof,
His icicles along the wall to keep;
And slept. The log that shifted with a jolt
Once in the stove, disturbed him and he shifted,
And eased his heavy breathing, but still slept.
One aged man -- one man -- can't keep a house,
A farm, a countryside, or if he can,
It's thus he does it of a winter night.

I frequently tramped eight or ten miles through the deepest snow
to keep an appointment with a beech-tree,
or a yellow birch, or an old acquaintance among the pines.
- Henry David Thoreau, 1817 - 1862

tsuki ichirin tôko ichirin hikariau

the disk moon
the disk frozen lake
reflecting each other

HASHIMOTO Takako (1899-1963)

---------------------------

kogarashi no hate wa arikeri umi no oto

bitter winter wind
ends there --
sound of the sea

IKENISHI Gonsui (1650-1722)

---------------------------

ten mo chi mo nashi tada yuki no furishikiru

no sky
no land -- just
snow falling

KAJIWARA Hashin (1864-?)

------------------------

hajimete no yuki yami ni furi yami ni yamu

first snow --
begins in the darkness
ends in the darkness

NOZAWA Setsuko (1920-1995)

--------------------------

kogarashi no ima ya fukutomo chiru ha nashi

bitter winter wind --
blowing now
yet no leaves to drop

NATSUME Sôseki (1867-1916)

--------------------------

fuyunami wa sono kage no e ni kutsugaeru

winter waves
break and turn over
their own shadow

TOMINAGA Fûsei (1885-1970)


Takayama, Gifu-ken, Snow Steps

Thank you everyone for your wonderful replies and images to this post.

Love, Inda
**********



Jeno Helitai (1871-1957)

Like a Madrigal

How you kissed me and how I kissed you,
How we sat together under the acacia trees
Sometimes in May...we two...
Today its winter, I don't remember,
How you loved me and how I loved you,
How you embraced me and how I embraced you
Furtively, secretly, obliviously,
Today it's winter, I don't remember.

The winter with its snow covered everything,
Spring has frozen in my heart:
Today its winter, I don't remember,
How you loved me and how I loved you,
How you embraced me and how I embraced you
How we sat together under the acacia trees,
Sometimes in May...we two...

quote:

Originally posted by dear Inda:
Thank you everyone for your wonderful replies and images to this post.

Love, Inda
**********

And for the POOR SOLES...

The angels provide...

A Shoe Tree!

The Holly and the Ivy
They are both full grown,
But of all the trees that grow in the woods
The Shoe-Tree makes me groan.

:confus ed:

Christmas

A child was born
On this very day,
Bringing light and hope to the world
In a gentle way.


This gift from God
Before our eyes,
A child was born
To save you and I.


Such little hands
To heal this Earth,
A heart of innocence
At the wake of birth.


To teach us forgiveness and compassion
These gifts of love,
This child is our future
Hatred shall we rise above.


Every day a child is born
Into our heart
Love takes form.
These children are a reminder
For you and I,
Christmas can be every day
Just look into their eyes.


By: Tim Cannon
**********************

Such beautiful messages!
Winter's magic, oh how I miss it!

Once upon a time ...

Ice skating
by Margherita Rueger

Winter’s icy breath
eagerly seeks mine
to engulf my throat
with its taste of youth.
Hit with memories
impatient to be savored
I allow my mind
to take seat in the front row
to watch the movie,
to let the emotions flow.
My soul sails back in time
and slips into my body
in its season of Spring …

The shimmering white field
beckons me like a lover
and seduces me to let go
of all inhibitions.
I bow slightly
to the Spirit of Ice
floating in the air
as I enter its domain.
I glide over the
reflections of the moon
and I dance to the rhythm
of inebriating tunes,
in sweet surrender to
the gentle kiss of harmony.

My heart whispers softly
that I can set off and fly.
My bones and muscles
transform into pure energy.
I grow wings of butterfly.
And then I dream my dream
of turning into a star,
into the number one ice queen.
I easily spin, whirl and twirl,
axels are “ein Kinderspiel”.*
Drums roll in suspense
for an overhead performance.
My heartbeat races
in incomparable delight.

Oh, Winter bliss
of long gone times
I still vibrate in ecstasy
at the memory
of my symbiosis with
the Spirit of Ice.
When Winter’s breath
holds me in its spell
I simply transcend time
to be lifted up into realms
of heavenly wonder.
I dance on ice
and I know paradise.
Gentle kiss of harmony
sweet immersion
into the sea of infinity.

Love,
Margherita



Michelle Kwan

Dear Margherita,

Your poem is very beautiful and filled with the magic of winter.
Thank you for coming back to Givnology and sharing it with us.

Love, Inda

quote:

Once upon a time ...

Ice skating
by Margherita Rueger

Winter’s icy breath
eagerly seeks mine
to engulf my throat
with its taste of youth.
Hit with memories
impatient to be savored
I allow my mind
to take seat in the front row
to watch the movie,
to let the emotions flow.
My soul sails back in time
and slips into my body
in its season of Spring …

The shimmering white field
beckons me like a lover
and seduces me to let go
of all inhibitions.
I bow slightly
to the Spirit of Ice
floating in the air
as I enter its domain.
I glide over the
reflections of the moon
and I dance to the rhythm
of inebriating tunes,
in sweet surrender to
the gentle kiss of harmony.

My heart whispers softly
that I can set off and fly.
My bones and muscles
transform into pure energy.
I grow wings of butterfly.
And then I dream my dream
of turning into a star,
into the number one ice queen.
I easily spin, whirl and twirl,
axels are “ein Kinderspiel”.*
Drums roll in suspense
for an overhead performance.
My heartbeat races
in incomparable delight.

Oh, Winter bliss
of long gone times
I still vibrate in ecstasy
at the memory
of my symbiosis with
the Spirit of Ice.
When Winter’s breath
holds me in its spell
I simply transcend time
to be lifted up into realms
of heavenly wonder.
I dance on ice
and I know paradise.
Gentle kiss of harmony
sweet immersion
into the sea of infinity.

Dear Margherita,
Your poem is absolutely beautiful.
Thank you for allowing us to enjoy it.

Love,
yoko

Thank you Margherita for adding such beauty to our winter days.

Have a very happy new year,
and a happy new year to everyone.

Love,
Sue

Truly beautiful poems! And images! Wow!



Thank you all so!!!

Snowflakes are one of nature's most fragile things,
but just look what they can do when they stick together.

Vesta M. Kelly