Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings.   Today’s post is an analysis of the poem To a Wreath of Snow by Emily Bronte.   This will be a stanza-by-stanza analysis of this lovely poem, with the sections in bold and all-caps being my analysis.   I accessed the text of the poem at https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/161908/to-a-wreath-of-snow.

To a Wreath of Snow

BY EMILY BRONTË

O transient voyager of heaven!

   O silent sign of winter skies!

What adverse wind thy sail has driven

   To dungeons where a prisoner lies?

~THIS OPENING STANZA PAINTS A LOVELY PICTURE OF SNOW AS AN ANTHROPORMORPHIZED BEING.   THE SNOW IS THE TRAVELER THROUGH THE SKY, BRINGING TO MIND ODIN’S WILD HUNT IN THE WINTER SKIES!

Methinks the hands that shut the sun

   So sternly from this morning’s brow

Might still their rebel task have done

   And checked a thing so frail as thou.

~THE SECOND STANZA SHOWS A WISH THAT THE SUN COULD HAVE PREVENTED THIS STORM, AS THE WARMTH OF THE SUN HAS THE ABILITY TO MELT SNOW.   HOWEVER, THE SNOW IS THE REBEL THAT HAS NOT BEEN CHECKED IN THIS CASE.

They would have done it had they known

   The talisman that dwelt in thee,

For all the suns that ever shone

   Have never been so kind to me!

~THE THIRD STANZA EQUATES THE SUN TO WARRIORS, WHICH IS COMMON IN FOLKLORE, THAT THE SUNS WOULD HAVE SAVED THE NARRATOR HAD THEY KNOWN HOW MUCH SHE DID NOT WANT THE SNOW TO OCCUR!

For many a week, and many a day

   My heart was weighed with sinking gloom

When morning rose in mourning grey

   And faintly lit my prison room

~THE FOURTH STANZA SHOWS THAT THE NARRATOR IS SAD THAT SHE HAS BEEN COOPED UP FOR WEEKS DUE TO THE COLD AND WINTERY WEATHER.   THIS LEADS TO MY INTERPRETATION THAT THIS POEM TAKES PLACE TOWARDS THE END OF WINTER WHEN SHE IS JUST ITCHING TO GET OUT AND ENJOY THE WORLD AGAIN!

But angel like, when I awoke,

   Thy silvery form, so soft and fair

Shining through darkness, sweetly spoke

   Of cloudy skies and mountains bare;

~THE FIFTH STANZA SHOWS THE NARRATOR’S COMPLEX RELATIONSHIP WITH SNOW, AS SHE CALLS SNOW ‘ANGEL-LIKE’ AND SOFT AND FAIR, ATTESTING THAT IT BREAKS THROUGH THE DARKNESS.   SHE SIMPLY SEEMS TO WANT THE FREEDOM THAT EARLY SPRING WILL BRING WITH IT, AS THE SUN WARMS THE GROUND AND THE TREES BECOME LUSH WITH LEAVES ONCE MORE!   

The dearest to a mountaineer

   Who, all life long has loved the snow

That crowned his native summits drear,

   Better, than greenest plains below.

~THE SIXTH STANZA SHOWS AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE TRUE BEAUTY OF SNOW TO THOSE WHO LIVE WITH IT ALWAYS, LIKE THOSE WHO LIVE IN THE MOUNTAINS.   THIS UNDERSTANDING SHOWS THE NARRATOR WARMING TO THE PRESENCE OF HER PREVIOUSLY UNWANTED SNOWY FRIEND!

And voiceless, soulless, messenger

   Thy presence waked a thrilling tone

That comforts me while thou art here

   And will sustain when thou art gone

~THE FINAL STANZA WRAPS UP THE COMPLEX FEELINGS THAT THE NARRATOR HAS FOR SNOW, HER LOVE OF THE SNOW’S BEAUTY AND COMFORT (LIKELY A REFERENCE TO BEING BY A FIRE IN A STORM), BUT ALSO THE KNOWLEDGE THAT THE WISDOM SHE HAS GAINED WILL SUSTAIN HER UNTIL THE SNOW RETURNS NEXT WINTER.

~I hope you have enjoyed my analysis.   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is a lovely Winter landscape.    I found the artwork at https://kobasiccreations.com/products/winter-landscape-wall-art-snow-draped-38757.

LINK TO AVALONIAN ROSE FAERY MYSTERIES PATREON: patreon.com/AvalonianRoseFaeryMysteries