No Songs In Winter

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No Songs In Winter

by Thomas Bailey Aldrich

The sky is gray as gray may be,
There is no bird upon the bough,
There is no leaf on vine or tree.

In the Neponset marshes now
Willow-stems, rosy in the wind,
Shiver with hidden sense of snow.

So too ‘t is winter in my mind,
No light-winged fancy comes and stays:
A season churlish and unkind.

Slow creep the hours, slow creep the days,
The black ink crusts upon the pen–
Just wait till bluebirds, wrens, and jays
And golden orioles come again!

_________________________

No Songs in Winter is a 13 line poem, divided into three 3-line stanzas and one 4-line stanza. It is written in iambic tetrameter. The rhyme scheme is ABA, BCB, CDC, DEDE (I am assuming a big here, though, that it was the poet’s intention for “wind” in line 5 to rhyme with “mind” and “unkind” in lines 7 and 9. My assumption is because this would continue an existing pattern both before and after.

Stanza One

The sky is gray as gray may be,
There is no bird upon the bough,
There is no leaf on vine or tree.

Here the Speaker sets the scene and the mood of the piece. The picture is lifeless and colorless (with apologies to gray – which is I’m sure a favorite color of many.) In any case, there is no vibrant color.

The writer utilizes repetition “there is no” to create a melodic feel to the work. He also repeats “gray” to give it additional emphasis.

Stanza Two

In the Neponset marshes now
Willow-stems, rosy in the wind,
Shiver with hidden sense of snow.

Neponset here is a river in eastern Massachusetts, where Aldrich lived for a portion of his life. The Speaker continues to build on the image of winter. Willow-stems are said to “shiver” with a “sense of snow.” In your mind, you can feel the cold air on your face as you read this.

The Speaker utilizes alliteration in line 6. The use of S sounds create in the reader a desire to pull into him or herself, and act out the line.

Stanza Three

So too ’tis winter in my mind,
No light-winged fancy comes and stays:
A season churlish and unkind.

Here the Speaker shares that in addition to winter outside, it is also lifeless and cold in his mind. I love the word churlish:

adjective

1. Of, like, or befitting a churl; boorish or vulgar.
2. Having a bad disposition; surly.
3. Difficult to work with, such as soil; intractable.

Given that the Speaker is Aldrich, and a writer, we can assume that he is struggling to create. It is often the case that our inner life reflects the outside weather. That appears to be the case here.

Stanza Four

Slow creep the hours, slow creep the days,
The black ink crusts upon the pen–
Just wait till bluebirds, wrens, and jays
And golden orioles come again!

The Speaker uses repetition again “Slow creep” to both create an emphasis of mood and also to imbue the line with a melodic feel. He is stuck internally and externally, waiting for change.

Here in lines 12 and 13, birds become a symbol of life and vibrancy. Their return from southern migration is a symbol found within nature that spring has arrived. The Speaker hopes that when this happens, his pen ink will cease to crust. These lines given additional meaning to the poem’s title. Their absence points to a lack of life in nature and a lack of creativity in the Speaker. His songs require that their songs also be present.

Ultimately here, though things are bleak, we have hope for the future.

It’s too bad for Aldrich that he didn’t have YouTube. You can listen to a golden oriole right now! You don’t have to wait for the changing seasons.