Woods in Winter by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The speaker walks a hill above a lonely valley in winter, describing sunlit bare woods, icicles, and the sounds of skating and voices. Remembering summer's birdsong and greenery, the speaker finds lasting cheer in the familiar music of winter winds.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Nature Poetry, Lyric Poetry · 277 words
First lines
When winter winds are piercing chill, / And through the hawthorn blows the gale, / With solemn feet I tread the hill, / That overbrows the lonely vale.
O'er the bare upland, and away / Through the long reach of desert woods, / The embracing sunbeams chastely play, / And gladden these deep solitudes.
Where, twisted round the barren oak, / The summer vine in beauty clung, / And summer winds the stillness broke, / The crystal icicle is hung.
Where, from their frozen urns, mute springs / Pour out the river's gradual tide, / Shrilly the skater's iron rings, / And voices fill the woodland side.
Genres
- Nature Poetry — Bare woods, sunlight, icicles, frozen springs, and wind through reeds furnish the winter landscape.
- Lyric Poetry — Seven rhymed quatrains convey the speaker's changing response to the woods, from regret for summer to cheer in winter's sounds.
Tags
winter · woodlands · wind · icicles · skating · seasonal change
What this Textopian page supports
Woods in Winter is listed on Textopian as a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, dated Date unknown.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Nature Poetry, Lyric Poetry
- Length: 277 words
- Structure: 1 section, 7 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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