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Archive for the 'Poems about Winter' Category

Contents

A Poem about Icicles

Spring Is Here! Go Away Winter, You Brute!

“Velvet Shoes” – A Poem about Walking in the Snow

A Poem called “Winter-time” by Robert Louis Stevenson for the Winter Solstice

Posts

A Poem about Icicles

Wednesday, January 30th, 2008

Here’s a beautiful poem that you can share with a child in your life. It’s about icicles hanging from trees in the cold winter night. It was written by Elinor Wylie (1885 – 1928).

Silver Filigree

The icicles wreathing
On trees in festoon
Swing, swayed to our breathing:
They’re made of the moon.

She’s a pale, waxen taper;
And these seem to drip
Transparent as paper
From the flame of her tip.

Molten, smoking a little,
Into crystal they pass;
Falling, freezing, to brittle
And delicate glass.

Each a sharp-pointed flower,
Each a brief stalactite
Which hangs for an hour
In the blue cave of night.

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Posted in Countries & Cultures, Elinor Wylie, English, Languages, Poems, Poems about Winter, Poetry, Poetry about the Seasons, Poets, Silver Filigree, USA | 2 Comments »

Spring Is Here! Go Away Winter, You Brute!

Wednesday, March 21st, 2007

Now that Spring is here – we can all smile – and start bad-mouthing Winter!

Here’s a poem about banishing Winter, called Winter, You’re Just a Brute! Well, that’s my translation of it. It’s originally French. The title in French is Hiver, vous n’êtes qu’un vilain ! It was written by Charles d’Orléans (1394-1465).

Below you’ll find my English translation first, followed by a modernized French version, followed by the original poem. At the end you’ll find a link where you can hear the poem recited in French.

Winter, You’re Just a Brute!

Winter, you’re just a brute!
Summer is pleasant and nice,
As proof, May and April,
Who accompany it evening and morn.

Summer adorns fields, woods and flowers,
In its coat of greenery
And of many other colors,
By the order of Nature.

But you, Winter, are too full
Of snow, wind, rain and hail;
You must be banished into exile,
Without flattering, I speak fairly,
Winter, you’re just a brute!

Hiver, vous n’êtes qu’un vilain !
(A Modernized Version in French)

Hiver, vous n’êtes qu’un vilain !
Eté est plaisant et gentil,
En témoin de Mai et d’Avril,
Qui l’accompagnent soir et matin.

Eté revêt champs, bois et fleurs
De sa livrée de verdure,
Et de maintes autres couleurs,
Par l’ordonnance de Nature.

Mais, vous, Hiver, trop êtes plein
De neige, vents, pluie et grésil.
On vous dût bannir en exil,
Sans point flatter, je parle plain,
Hiver, vous n’êtes qu’un vilain.

Yver, vous n’estes qu’un villain
(Original Version with Older French Spelling)

Yver, vous n’estes qu’un villain,
Esté est plaisant et gentil,
En tesmoing de May et d’Avril
Qui l’acompaignent soir et main.

Esté revest champs, bois et fleurs,
De sa livrée de verdure
Et de maintes autres couleurs,
Par l’ordonnance de Nature.

Mais vous, Yver, trop estes plain
De nege, vent pluye et grezil;
On vous deust banie en essil.
Sans point flater, je parle plain,
Yver, vous n’estes qu’un villain !

Link to hear Hiver, vous n’êtes qu’un vilain ! Recited

Link to Hear Hiver, vous n’êtes qu’un vilain ! Sung

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Posted in Charles d'Orléans, Countries & Cultures, France, French, French Poems, Hiver, vous n'êtes qu'un vilain !, Languages, Poems about Spring, Poems about Winter, Poetry, Poets, Rain, Seasonal, Snow, Spring, Summer, Weather, Winter | 3 Comments »

“Velvet Shoes” – A Poem about Walking in the Snow

Sunday, January 15th, 2006

The rain turned into snow last night. The land is a beautiful velvety white.

Here’s a poem about the snow by Elinor Wylie…

Velvet Shoes

Let us walk in the white snow
In a soundless space;
With footsteps quiet and slow,
At a tranquil pace,
Under veils of white lace.

I shall go shod in silk,
And you in wool,
White as white cow’s milk,
More beautiful
Than the breast of a gull.

We shall walk through the still town
In a windless peace;
We shall step upon white down,
Upon silver fleece,
Upon softer than these.

We shall walk in velvet shoes:
Wherever we go
Silence will fall like dews
On white silence below.
We shall walk in the snow.

If it’s wintry white outside near you, put on your velvet shoes and enjoy a walk in the snow!

Lisa

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Posted in Elinor Wylie, English, Languages, Poems about Snow, Poems about Winter, Poetry, Poetry about the Seasons, Poetry about the Weather, Snow, Velvet Shoes, Weather | 7 Comments »

A Poem called “Winter-time” by Robert Louis Stevenson for the Winter Solstice

Wednesday, December 21st, 2005

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.

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Posted in Poems about Winter, Poetry, Poetry about the Seasons, Robert Louis Stevenson, Winter-Time, Winter-time | No Comments »

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