Softest bell,
highest tone,
listen well,
Winter Crone,
snowdrop’s spell
makes you dwindle,
sounds the knell:
spring’s a’kindle,
feel ye well
youth is nigh,
dance a spell,
perhaps fly.
Copyright 2017 Brenda Davis Harsham
Notes: Jama asked if we will someday call the season Old Woman Winter. I wondered then why winter is usually male: Old Man Winter, Jack Frost, Snow Miser. And the Winter Crone was born. A commenter pointed out the similarity between this poem and Herrick’s To the Virgins. There is something to that.
Happy Birthday to Dr. Seuss today! He made rhyming cool for school! I photographed these flowers on February 25, 2017. First 2017 flowers spotted in my neck of the woods.
Happy Poetry Friday! Thanks to Heidi Mordhorst at My Juicy Little Universe who is hosting and celebrating Billy Collins’ birthday this week. In my seasonal theme, for her:
Winter by Billy Collins
A little heat in the iron radiator,
the dog breathing at the foot of the bed,
and the windows shut tight,
encrusted with hexagons of frost.
Read the rest here.
Wonderful poem. Would you mind if I shared this poem in one of my own posts?
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Sure. I tried to visit jabinhawkins, but it said it’s been deleted.
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Thanks for letting me know. My blog is Solidwriterblog.wordpress.com currently.
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should be working now!
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Yes, I see you’ve adjusted your link. Sorry to hear about the diabetes. Runs in my family. I dread the day…
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Thanks for reading! Yeah, it wasn’t and still isn’t fun, but it’s manageable. Unfortunately, the cost of insulin is really high, but I just gotta do what I can.
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And diabetes will probably be considered a pre-existing condition if the new bill is passed. Scary days.
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You can find your poem shared in this blog post: https://solidwriterblog.wordpress.com/2017/05/10/1306/
Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy!
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Love it
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That was awesome..!!!
You can checkout mine… I am a new blogger and if u like it feel free to follow back..
https://sampritidasblog.wordpress.com/
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Nice post dear
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Thank you!
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Welcome…………….
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Hi 😀 Loved your poem! I’ve recently started a blog and have a few poems that I would love for you to check out. Please feel free to follow back also it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
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Great looking blog! WP is a fun place.
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Nicely done. Reminds me of Herrick’s “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time.”
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You are so right, now that I reread that. “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.”
Herrick was king, and I am a pale reflection. I edited my post to add that. Great point. Thanks!
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A high school English class introduced me to the Herrick poem. Filled with the pride of youth, I placed those lines in my graduation notices. For after all, youth is king. And now at 43, I realize how much of a thought pauper I was at 18. And so the carousel goes….
I look forward to reading your tales!
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A thought pauper. Hilarious. Yes, I thought I had the world figured out, but thankfully, I didn’t. Much more was waiting for me than I imagined. 🙂
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Lovely pic to go with it, too!
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loved this beautiful piece! please have a look at mine too! thanks
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I loved it. 🙂 x
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Thank you!
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Beautiful imagery! Makes me feel like I am sitting cozy in a garden. Nicely done. And I love Billy Collins!
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Thank you! Me, too!
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Beautifully written!!!! Loved It!
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Thank you!
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I really enjoyed this! I had a crack at a poem on my blog too! Have a great day 🙂
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Your poem is very appropriate to the day. How did you happen to run across Snowdrop’s Spell? It’s getting a surprising amount of traffic.
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I searched ‘poetry’ and it was the top result!
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Wow. That is amazing! Thanks for letting me know.
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Great Work!
can you check out mine?
https://alfatoon.wordpress.com/2017/04/12/i-wonna-tell-you/?frame-nonce=2858d350c7
thank you!
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I like your poetry. Have a magical rest of the week.
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A lovely read.
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Thanks!
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Thank you for sharing beautiful words. We are promoting our II Poetry Contest.
Click here to know more about it. https://weareallthesameproject.com/poetry-contest/
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I visited your page. What a great project. I’d be happy to support it. Do you accept poems that have been published on personal blogs?
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Hi Brenda, thank you! We accept poems that has been published on personal blogs and books. We do not accept poems that were awarded or won any kind of prize. Please feel free to share with your friends and family.
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I love your snowdrop poem! I saw some snowdrops at my local nature reserve, and they were so beautiful. Your poem captures the feeling of seeing them after a long winter perfectly.
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Thanks, Sarah. 🙂 I’m always happy to see them. I’m glad my poem conveys that.
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So much joy in those last two lines:
dance a spell,
perhaps fly
Loving it!
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Thanks, Myra!
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One of your best, Brenda! Short, sweet, full of unique wordplay and imagery – and I love the more ‘old-fashioned’ feel of some of your phrasing, which adds to the experience.
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Thanks, Matt!
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Oh dear! Yes, peepers! As far as I know, peppers haven’t started singing yet!
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“Spring’s a’kindle” is so clever. We heard the peppers here on February 28th, the earliest ever, but today it’s back to temps in the 20s! Billy Collins’s Winter poem is, as always, pitch perfect. I love the “geese/complaining in the vast sky.” Thanks for sharing!
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Do you mean the peepers? The frogs? I have to go listen for them in a few weeks. They will be waking up. Thanks for the reminder.
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Brenda, this is a great poem. Love the idea of snowdrops casting a spell on Winter Crone – and the voice is spot on with just a hint of mystery. Love your photo too, and your link to BC!
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Thanks, Violet. Such fun connecting to other kids’ poets. 🙂
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The flowers are precious, your photo fabulous and the poem delightful! Now, winter has a crone. 😀 xo
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If we don’t love our crones, we can’t expect men to. 🙂
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Gasp! What beautiful babies…..my first impression when I clicked the link to this page. Snowdrops are so precious. But, winter crone does make sense. Maybe Snowdrops are the crone as a young woman….Winter has powers of visiting youth? Sping’s a’kindle is bewitching.
And, those geese complaining over the living and the dead….schools and prisons. Billy Collins nails the language, doesn’t he?
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I always like my poems until I read Billy’s and then I feel a bit deflated. 🙂 But I like him anyway. And yes, he does find the deepest emotion some of us may not even realize we are feeling. Thanks for your kind words on my little ditty.
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The second stanza is my favourite. Lovely synchronicity that it’s snowdrop flowers that signal end of winter.
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Thanks, Kat. I think snowdrops are a better indicator than groundhogs. 🙂 Do you have groundhogs predicting spring in Australia?
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Such a Delightful little verse. 🌹
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Thanks, Dorna!
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I love snowdrops!!
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Me, too!
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I love your chant…your incantation! Hooray for the snowdrops’ spell!
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I feel younger already. 🙂
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Oh wow, Winter Crone — love it! Such a sweet, gentle poem that warmed my heart today, Brenda. Lovely snowdrops!
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Glad you like it, Jama!
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Happy Spring, Brenda! Those snowdrops are like little bells, ringing in Spring’s arrival. How thoughtful of you to greet her with poetry!
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🙂 I was happy to see the snowdrops blooming already. Seems like Spring might be early this year.
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Your delicate words are perfectly chosen to match the snowdrop flower. Well done, Brenda, as always!
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Thanks, Kiesha!
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Brenda, this is a magical little nugget of a poem that reminds me of a medieval folk festival reading. If you pair these, I’d love to place it in my winter gallery. The flower is so delicate and amazing as a winter tribute to spring.
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Thanks, Carol. I’ll see if I can find some free time.
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Love that “spring’s a’kindle”!
Also loved Billy’s description of winter… I remember the old creaking radiators and the frosted windowpanes in the morning… so cold in those upstairs bedrooms in winter!
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We still have old radiators. But we replaced the window and no more frost. So sad.
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Hi, Brenda–Wow, look at all the folks who were ready to go on Thursday!
I do like the way your poem lilts away the Crone with its incantation, and your photo is so alive! Thanks for bringing Billy in on it too–it’s an interesting specimen. Brrr.
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Thanks for stopping by, Heidi. Today is my daughter’s birthday — class visit, shopping, errands, party. Had to be ready early. I love Billy’s language use. Always so incisive.
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Fun poem Brenda, it truly draws you in, as does your beautiful image!
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Thanks, Michelle. I wish I was as accomplished at watercolor as you, but meanwhile, my camera loves flowers. 🙂
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You know I love your snowdrop poem: “snowdrop’s spell
makes you dwindle,” & that you found a winterly female! The Billy Collins celebration is going to be great! Thanks for the poem you shared from him, too.
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Thanks for stopping by Linda. I might be late to the party because my daughter’s visit is tomorrow, but I will swing by as soon as I can. 🙂
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It has been a long and cold winter, and the tiny little flowers popping up here and there are giving me the hope I need! Spring will eventually come back!! Go away, Old Lady Winter, we’re done with you here! 😉
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Yes! Us, too. It’s turned colder and we’ve turned crankier. LOL
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i love your little fairy bells, and the crone idea )
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🙂 Thanks, Beth.
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Lovely post Brenda. I love the thought of winter as a crone and the rhythm of your poem. I also love Billy Collins’ reference to the geese flying over
“schools and prisons” That idea that they can be seen in such disparate locations (though I guess some see school as a prison, lol) made me stop and ponder.
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I think you could sing “Snowdrop’s Spell,” Brenda.
Its lovely.
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Thank you! What a nice thought. I wonder what the music would be like.
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Lovely post, Brenda :).
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Thanks, Gigi! I see your little fairy house every day at my desk. 🙂
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Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford and commented:
I MISS HAVING SNOW BELLS–AND A GARDEN! GREAT MESSAGE HERE, IN SOFT AND GENTLENESS! ALAS, DR. SEUSS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING!
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Snowbells are a consolation. 🙂 Dr. Seuss left lots of good words for us.
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He sure did! Are those snow balls from your garden?
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No, my son spotted them when we were out for a walk.
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Good eyesight, your son!
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Yes, he notices things. I like that about him. Peace and joy to you and your wife.
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Thank you!
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Be perfect in a Little Persons book Brenda.
xxx Huge Hugs xxx
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Thanks, David! I hope to have a poem in a little person’s book someday. One of my poems was published in an anthology, and my daughter asked for it and read it out loud. 🙂 Made me very happy.
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I feel winter’s chill retreating – thanks toy our lovely prose.
Many thanks.
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Thanks for stopping by, Hook. 🙂 Opening the doors to Canada… 🙂
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So gorgeous Brenda, I love it
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Thank you!
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