The Winter Solstice came yesterday, just after sunset.
Robert Burns is best known for "Auld Lang Syne," traditionally sung at the stroke of midnight in the Anglophone world. Here the Scottish poet beautifully conveys the mood at the beginning of this season:
Winter: A Dirge
The wintry west extends his blast,
And hail and rain does blaw;
Or, the stormy north sends driving forth
The blinding sleet and snaw:
While, tumbling brown, the burn comes down,
And roars frae bank to brae;
And bird and beast in covert rest,
And pass the heartless day.
“The sweeping blast, the sky o’ercast,”
The joyless winter-day
Let others fear, to me more dear
Than all the pride of May:
The tempest’s howl, it soothes my soul,
My griefs it seems to join;
The leafless trees my fancy please,
Their fate resembles mine!
Thou Power Supreme whose mighty scheme
These woes of mine fulfil,
Here, firm, I rest; they must be best,
Because they are Thy will!
Then all I want—O do Thou grant
This one request of mine.—
Since to enjoy Thou dost deny,
Assist me to resign.
This year, I heard something NEW about the seasons. I heard there is Astronomical Winter and also Meteorological Winter. It's true! You can even read about the different varieties of Winter in Wikipedia. For purposes of this comment, Meteorological Winter consists of the months of December through February; the three coldest calendar months of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.
ReplyDeleteSteve—That’s interesting. I guess it makes sense when you realize that in most of the Northern Hemisphere, December, January and February are the coldest months, and March gradually warms up.
DeleteHello Steve--I am sorry about the delay in posting your comment. For some weird reason, I couldn't post comments--including my own--from the server I was using.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, what you mention is interesting. I guess the timeframe for Meteorological Winter makes sense, given that December, January and February are usually the coldest months in most of the Northern Hemisphere.
Happy Boxing Day!
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