Author: Madison Julius Cawein

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    All day the clouds hung ashen with the cold;
    And through the snow the muffled waters fell;
    The day seemed drowned in grief too deep to tell,
    Like some old hermit whose last bead is told.
    At eve the wind woke, and the snow clouds rolled
    Aside to leave the fierce sky visible;
    Harsh as an iron landscape of wan hell
    The dark hills hung framed in with gloomy gold.
    And then, towards night, the wind seemed some one at
    My window wailing: now a little child
    Crying outside my door; and now the long
    Howl of some starved beast down the flue. I sat
    And knew 'twas Winter with his madman song
    Of miseries on which he stared and smiled.

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Type of Poem: Sonnet

Date Written:

Date Published:

Language: English

Keywords: Public Domain

Source: Public Domain Collection

Publisher:

Rights/Permissions: Public Domain

Comments/Notes: This poem is a profound exploration of the harshness and desolation of winter. The poet employs vivid, evocative imagery to capture the bleakness of the season, with the ashen clouds, muffled waters, and dark hills creating a somber, desolate landscape that mirrors the speaker's inner turmoil. The tone is melancholic and chilling, underscoring the poem's central theme of winter's cruel, unyielding grip.

The structure of the poem, with its consistent rhyme scheme and rhythmic flow, contrasts sharply with the chaotic, unpredictable nature of winter, adding an unexpected layer of complexity to the work. The poet's use of personification, depicting Winter as a madman singing a song of misery, is particularly striking. This lends a sinister, almost malevolent quality to the season, suggesting it takes pleasure in its destructive power. The poem thus offers a compelling portrait of winter not merely as a time of cold and darkness, but as an active agent of despair. The poem is a powerful testament to the enduring power of nature, its ability to mirror and intensify human emotion, and the stark beauty that can be found even in its most merciless manifestations.