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The Snowstorm


By Ralph Waldo Emerson



 

Announced by all the trumpets of the sky,
Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields,
Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air
Hides hills and woods, the river, and the heaven,
And veils the farmhouse at the garden's end.
The sled and traveler stopped, the courier's feet
Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit
Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed
In a tumultuous privacy of storm.

Come see the northwind's masonry.
Out of an unseen quarry evermore
Furnished with tile, the fierce artificer
Curves his white bastions with projected roof
Round every wayward stake, or tree, or door.
Speeding, the myriad-handed, his wild work
So fanciful, so savage, nought cares he
For number or proportion. Mockingly,
On coop or kennel he hangs Parian wreaths;
A swan-like form invests the hidden thorn;
Fills up the farmer's lane from wall to wall,
Maugre the farmer sighs; and, at the gate,
A tapering turret overtops the work.
And when his hours are numbered, and the world
Is all his own, retiring, as he were not,
Leaves, when the sun appears, astonished Art
To mimic in slow structures, stone by stone,
Built in an age, the mad wind's night-work,
The frolic architecture of snow.



Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) was born in Boston and educated at harvard where he studied divinity. In 1829 he became Pastor of a church in Boston, but was soon embroiled in controversy over his refusal to give communion. His belief being that the Lord's supper was not intended to be a permanent sacrament; leaving him to retire in 1832. During the early 1830's he began an active career as a writer and lecturer, and in 1836 published anonymously his essay, Nature, based on his early lectures. He was very well travelled and did frequent lecture tours to Europe which enhanced his reputation. He remains one of the better known American writers of his generation.


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For more information about Ralph Waldo Emerson visit here for an interesting web discussion group devoted to him. Or else here for an interesting insight into whether he was actually responsible for the poem Success which is usually attributed to him.

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