SNOW BOUND – A Winter Idyl
This 747-line poem was written in 1866 by American poet John Greenleaf Whittier
(1807–1892). Here is a brief excerpt from pages 3 and 4 of the 40 page poem. I found
them especially fitting given the current winter of 2026.
So all night long the storm roared on.
The morning broke without a sun;
In tiny spherule traced with lines
Of nature’s geometric signs…
And when the second morning shone,
We looked upon a world unknown,
On nothing we could call our own.
Around the glistening wonderment
The blue walls of the firmament.
No cloud above, no earth below–
A universe of sky and snow!
Published in 1866 as an illustrated book, Snow-Bound sold for the then-hefty price of
$1.25. Despite the cost, it was an immediate success. After four exhausting years of
Civil War, Americans embraced Whittier’s nostalgic portrait of a simpler era—one
untouched by war and the accelerating pace of industrialization. This idealized vision of
early 19th-century rural life was widely read and memorized, finding its way into
schoolrooms, Sunday dinners, and family gatherings around the hearth.
The full poem and additional background are available on Wikipedia. You can also listen
to Jay and me play my tune, “The Snowstorm,” here.
– Molly Mason