Snow-Bound by John Greenleaf Whittier

First published: 1866

Type of work: Poetry

Type of plot: Idyll

Time of plot: Early nineteenth century

Locale: Haverhill, Massachusetts

Principal characters

• Members of the Whittier Family,
• The Schoolmaster,
• A Guest,

The Poem:

One December day a wind from the east and a leaden sky forecast snow. As night came on, the members of the Whittier family brought in firewood, littered the cattle stalls with fresh straw, and fed the stock. All night the storm raged, and in the morning the Whittiers looked upon a world of fleecy snow. The elder Whittier, a man of action, ordered a path dug to the barn, and his sons merrily turned to the work, making a crystal-walled tunnel through the deepest drift. Although the snow no longer fell, all day a north wind drove bits of sleet against the windows of the house. Again, as night fell, wood was brought in for the great fireplace around which the family gathered. While the moon shone on the snow outside and the north wind battered the house, the family stayed snug and warm inside.

As the poet recalls this happy scene of long ago, he pauses a moment to think of the many changes that later took place. Only he and his brother now remain; death took all the others. His memory goes back to the old fireside, the stories told there, the puzzles and riddles solved, the poems recited. The elder Whittier told of adventures he had with the Indians, of fishing trips, and of the witches reputed to inhabit the land in olden days. The mother told of Indian raids and of the happy times she had as a girl. To these stories from her own life she added some that she read in books by famous and revered Quakers.

Next the poet calls to mind the tales of the world of nature told by his uncle, a man unschooled in a formal way but seemingly filled with a boundless knowledge of moons and tides, of weather signs, of birds and beasts. The memory of the poet’s maiden aunt brings her also vividly before him. He remembers how she lived for others instead of bewailing her lonely maidenhood. He sees again his elder sister whose rich, full nature prompted many deeds of self-sacrifice. Tenderly he recalls his dearly loved younger sister, who was with him until a year ago, but whose body now lies with the others in the earth.

From the members of his family, the poet turns to the young schoolmaster, a boarder in the Whittier home. The son of a poor man, the schoolmaster as a boy learned independence. As a student he helped to pay his way through Dartmouth College by taking varied jobs. Later as a teacher he, when school was out, joined in schoolboy sports. In the schoolroom he was the earnest shaper of youthful minds. The poet prays that the cause of freedom might have many young apostles like him.

Another guest of the Whittier household on that night of long ago comes to the poet’s mind. A strange woman, half feared, half welcome, she was as known for her violent temper as she was for her eccentric devotion to religion. Leaving her home, she later went to Europe and the Near East, prophesying everywhere the imminent second coming of Christ. The poet asks for God’s mercy upon the poor woman whose mind seemed so odd to her neighbors.

As the hour grew late the group about the fire retired for the night. The next morning teamsters came to clear the snow-filled roads. The young folks played in the snowbanks. Later, along the cleared road came the neighborhood doctor on his rounds. A week passed before the mailman finally delivered a newspaper to tell of happenings beyond the Whittiers’ snowbound world.

The poet shuts the covers of his book of memory upon these happy scenes of the past. He puts the book away with the hope that readers in the future might pause with him to view for a little while these Flemish pictures of old days.

Bibliography

Blue, Frederick J. “To Mitigate the Suffering of Our Countrymen: John Greenleaf Whittier, Abolitionist Poet.” In No Taint of Compromise: Crusaders in Antislavery Politics. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2005. Chronicles Whittier’s life and literary career, focusing on his political involvement in the abolitionist movement. Cites some of his antislavery poetry.

Kribbs, Jayne K., comp. Critical Essays on John Greenleaf Whittier. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1980. Includes early reviews and structuralist criticism. Discusses Whittier’s Quaker principles. Snow-Bound is addressed in an early review and in an essay on imagistic and structural unity.

Leary, Lewis. John Greenleaf Whittier. New York: Twayne, 1961. Summarizes earlier views of Snow-Bound and offers lucid paraphrase of each part.

Pickard, John B. John Greenleaf Whittier: An Introduction and Interpretation. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1961. Focuses on the image of fire. Snow-Bound is discussed extensively in the chapter on genre poetry.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Memorabilia of John Greenleaf Whittier. Hartford, Conn.: Emerson Society, 1968. Includes unpublished papers on Whittier and an extensive collection of photographs of the poet. Contains an essay on Snow-Bound.

Sorby, Angela. “Learning to Be White: John Greenleaf Whittier’s Snow-Bound.” In Schoolroom Poets: Childhood, Performance, and the Place of American Poetry, 1865-1917. Durham: University of New Hampshire Press, 2005. Focuses on the racial implications of the poem, arguing that it is about “whiteness”—the whiteness of the snow, of the family in the poem, and of Whittier himself. Maintains that this whiteness is questionable for Whittier, who initially depicts contrasts of black and white, but by the end of the poem presents shades of gray that reflect the potential for a multiracial America.

Wagenknecht, Edward. John Greenleaf Whittier: A Portrait in Paradox. New York: Oxford University Press, 1967. Considers Whittier in light of his philosophy, especially his Quaker principles of pacifism and enlightenment. Examines Snow-Bound in relation to these themes.

Wesley, Marilyn C. “’The Not Unfeared, Half-Welcome Guest’: The Woman Traveler in John Greenleaf Whittier’s Snow-Bound.” In Secret Journeys: The Trope of Women’s Travel in American Literature. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1999. Focuses on the appearance of the woman traveler in the poem, demonstrating how it reflects ideas about masculine identity and the depiction of women in male literature of the period.