Tuesday, December 23, 2008

The Snow Man

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.


-- Wallace Stevens

4 comments:

Pam said...

one of my touchstone poems!

word verification-untapp-like a mind of winter...

Jeannine said...

Merry Snow day!c

early hours of sky said...

merry christmas suzanne!

sam of the ten thousand things said...

A powerful piece - and one of my favorites. Thanks for posting it, Suzanne.