Snow Poetry Response

Winter Uplands
Archibald Lampman (1861-1899)

The frost that stings like fire upon my cheek,
The loneliness of this forsaken ground,
The long white drift upon whose powdered peak
I sit in the great silence as one bound;
The rippled sheet of snow where the wind blew
Across the open fields for miles ahead;
The far-off city towered and roofed in blue
A tender line upon the western red;
The stars that singly, then in flocks appear,
Like jets of silver from the violet dome,
So wonderful, so many and so near,
And then the golden moon to light me home—
The crunching snowshoes and the stinging air,
And silence, frost and beauty everywhere.

This sonnet is a true masterpiece that fully captures the Canadian landscape in wintertime. I find that this poem shows both how gentle and beautiful the snow can be, but also how vicious and unruly the snow can be. In parts such as "the frost that stings like fire upon my cheek," captures the bad side of snow, and in parts such as "...frost and beauty everywhere," captures the good side of snow. I find that the choice of words, and sonnet format make this poem more effective. The use of imagery in this poem allows the reader to feel as though they are there because Archibald Lampman uses both sight, sound and feeling to convey his message. One of the parts where I feel as though I am experiencing what the author is, is when he writes, "The crunching snowshoes and the stinging air." I can truly relate to this, as I know the feeling and sounds of the snow crunching beneath your feet, and the stinging on your skin as the cold air touches it. Overall I think that this poem does an amazing job of allowing the reader to, in their own way, feel, see and hear the Canadian landscape in the winter.