Author: Madison Julius Cawein

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I.

    January

    Shaggy with skins of frost-furred gray and drab,
    Harsh, hoary hair framing a bitter face,
    He bends above the dead Year's fireplace
    Nursing the last few embers of its slab
    To sullen glow: from pinched lips, cold and crab,
    The starved flame shrinks; his breath, like a mence,
    Shrieks in the flue, fluttering its sooty lace,
    Piercing the silence like an icy stab.
    From rheum-gnarled knees he rises, slow with cold,
    And to the frost-bound window, muttering, goes,
    With iron knuckles knocking on the pane;
    And, lo! outside, his minions manifold
    Answer the summons: wolf-like shapes of woes,
    Hunger and suffering, trooping to his train.

II.

    February

    Gray-muffled to his eyes in rags of cloud,
    His whip of winds forever in his hand,
    Driving the herded storms along the land,
    That shake the wild sleet from wild hair and crowd
    Heaven with tumultuous bulks, he comes, lowbrowed
    And heavy-eyed; the hail, like stinging sand,
    Whirls white behind, swept backward by his band
    Of wild-hoofed gales that o'er the world ring loud.
    All day the tatters of his dark cloak stream
    Congealing moisture, till in solid ice
    The forests stand; and, clang on thunderous clang,
    All night is heard, as in the moon's cold gleam
    Tightens his grip of frost, his iron vise,
    The boom of bursting boughs that icicles fang.

III.

    March

    This is the tomboy month of all the year,
    March, who comes shouting o'er the winter hills,
    Waking the world with laughter, as she wills,
    Or wild halloos, a windflower in her ear.
    She stops a moment by the half-thawed mere
    And whistles to the wind, and straightway shrills
    The hyla's song, and hoods of daffodils
    Crowd golden 'round her, leaning their heads to hear.
    Then through the woods, that drip with all their eaves,
    Her mad hair blown about her, loud she goes
    Singing and calling to the naked trees,
    And straight the oilets of the little leaves
    Open their eyes in wonder, rows on rows,
    And the first bluebird bugles to the breeze.

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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 three-part poem employs personification to vividly bring the first three months of the year to life, characterizing each with distinct personalities and qualities. The grim, cold January is depicted as a harsh elder, nursing the dying embers of the previous year, with the bitter reality of winter captured in imagery like "skins of frost-furred gray" and "starved flame." The poet's use of alliteration and harsh consonants in lines such as "harsh hoary hair" and "sooty lace" heightens the sense of bleakness and desolation.

In contrast, February is portrayed as a stormy and tumultuous force, relentlessly driving winter's wrath forward. The poet's use of vivid metaphors and similes, such as "his whip of winds," and the "wild-hoofed gales," create a sense of relentless and chaotic movement. This stanza is filled with more active verbs, reflecting the harsher conditions of this month.

Finally, March is presented as a lively, exuberant tomboy, bringing with her signs of the coming spring. The poet's tone noticeably shifts here, becoming more upbeat and playful with the use of terms like "tomboy," "shouting," and "laughter." The use of imagery depicts the gradual transformation of nature, with the "hyla's song" and "hoods of daffodils" symbolizing the awakening of life after winter's dormancy. The poet's diction, filled with action and vitality, reinforces the sense of renewal and hope in this final part of the poem. The poem's overall structure, moving from the bleakness of winter to the hopeful signs of spring, suggests a broader theme of cyclical change and renewal inherent in nature.