Poetry for warmth in this frosty season

With winter coming to an end, The Boar comes bearing some winter poems to help stir your soul and maybe even make you fall a little in love with winter life! From classics to contemporary gems, there are innumerable poems to choose from, but here’s a selection to keep you company as you sit by the fireplace in cosy jumpers.

First up, ‘Winter Time’ by Robert Louis Stevenson! This poem will resonate with every single person living in a cold country, although not so much Stevenson’s method of exploration: “with a reindeer-sledge, explore / The colder countries round the door”. When you’re tired of looking at bleak skies and pale buildings, try seeing them the way Stevenson does: “And tree and house, and hill and lake, / Are frosted like a wedding cake.” A little imagination can bring surprising amounts of laughter and joy.

For students navigating gloomy mornings and chilly evenings, Frost’s lines are a steady encouragement to keep moving even through the cold

Next up, ‘Stopping by Woods on A Snowy Evening’ by Robert Frost. Norman Rosenthal, American psychiatrist, author and coach, stated that this poem reads like “a friend or neighbour is talking to you” and is “readily accessible”. His closing reminder of “I have promises to keep / and miles to go before I sleep” nudges readers to step back into their responsibilities. For students navigating gloomy mornings and chilly evenings, Frost’s lines are a steady encouragement to keep moving even through the cold.

Another wonderful poetic addition is ‘Snow’ by Gillian Clarke, a poem that captures the innocent excitement of seeing snowfall for the very first time. Many international students at Warwick might relate Clarke’s lines of waking to “find our ceiling glimmering” and running out “before it’s all seen off with a salt-lick / of Atlantic air”, evoking the childlike wonder that snow brings even to adults. Amidst deadlines and endless library visits, her imagery of “chains of fox and crow and hare” and cosy moments of “a fire, a roasting bird, a ringing phone” reminds readers that winter is not just cold but also magical and comforting.

To reminisce on true festive sparkle, the opening stanza of ‘The Bells’ by Edgar Allen Poe is a perfect companion. The shimmery “silver bells” ringing in the “icy air of night” offer to readers the same delight and energy found in iconic Christmas songs like “Jingle Bells” or “Last Christmas”. The first stanza’s imagery of “All the heavens seem to twinkle/ In a crystalline delight” goes hand in hand with the nostalgia of Christmas market scenes: sipping hot chocolate, sharing churros with friends, and going on Winter Wonderland rides in a mix of adrenaline and sugar rush.

Winter’s true warmth springs not from abundance but kindness and intention

Finally, ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Christina Rossetti offers solace, quiet and reflection. The poem captures two extremities: the opening lines capture winter at its harshest, “Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone”, while the lines “in the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed/ The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ” centre the warmth and comfort of winter. The poem’s final closing line, “Yet what I can give Him: give my heart”, reminds people that winter’s true warmth springs not from abundance but kindness and intention.

For both comforting and challenging winters, poetry helps people reflect on their surroundings and find meaning. Winter poetry reveals that winter is not just cold and darkness, but also warmth and light. To all the readers, next time the skies turn grey and gloomy, curl up with a poem, a warm drink, and take time to indulge in the moment and the season.