John Greenleaf Whittier, An American Poet

Snowbound - A Colonial History in Poetic Form

Feb 22, 2009

An oncoming New England snow storm in the early 1800's provides the backdrop for John Greenleaf Whittier, American poet from Haverhill, Massachusetts, to write Snowbound.

The Poet from Haverhill, Massachusetts

On a cold 17th day in December 1807 in Haverhill, Massachusetts, a great American Poet whose Quaker heritage influenced his poetic writing was born. John Greenleaf Whittier became well-known as a humanitarian who admired Chaucer and Byron. In the mill country of colonial Massachusetts, Whittier found his niche in journalism at first. He admired William Lloyd Garrison, a staunch abolitionist.

Later, Whittier fled Boston for his virulent position on abolition. He was set upon by a mob in the City of Penn Franklin in opposition to those who took issue with his abolitionism. Whittier wrote Snowbound, termed by him as a winter idyll. He dedicated it to "the household it describes", in memory of his youth in Haverhill. In total context, Snowbound is one young boy's Colonial history in poetic form.

Snowbound, The Winter Idyll

Though it's largely been forgotten in American Literature classes, Whittier's Snowbound is a perfect blend of the poetic muse of the poet Robert Burns and Whittier's own classic distortions of old French and Gaelic, to the chagrin of many schoolmasters of his time, who considered his style of poetic literature Lowland jargon.

Yet, Snowbound is a beautiful, wonderous account of a young boy's anticipation of an oncoming New England snow storm. Whittier details the preparations by describing his chores as harsh winds and the roar of the ocean foretell the coming of the snow. In a lilting, rhythmic poetic style, Whittier tells of a universe of sky and snow as the young boy peers out his window into the night.

All Things Changed, All Things Remain the Same

Not surpisingly, when the young boy in Snowbound awakes the morning after the storm, his father, like all fathers, promptly sends his sons out to shovel snow. There, a winter wonderland of imagination provokes the young boy as he shovels a path in the deep snow. Cleverly, Whittier injects in Snowbound, ever so subtley, his humanitarism belief in the evil of Slavery early on in this quatrain:

Clearly, Whittier stands by his personal beliefs as he continues to provide the reader with vignettes of the austerity of life in Colonial times. His religious nature is evident in the tone of Snowbound and in various lines of Snowbound where he refers to God as the "Great Master" and divine law.

Snowbound, Colonial Convention

Though the world of Snowbound begins with a snow storm, Whittier doesn't fail to dream far beyond the limitations of his surroundings. Such is the talent of the most genuine poets of Colonial New England. Without pretention, Snowbound shares a view of Colonial convention throughout. Appealing to the homespun nature of the times as well as to awareness of a wider world, Snowbound, is thought-provoking and carries the reader back to this simpler era.

Some may find Whittier's Snowbound a difficult read. That may be true. Those who love Snowbound are capable of allowing their poetic muse to carry them away to the depth and core of synchrony with Whittier. Snowbound to this end becomes a literary treasure.

The copyright of the article John Greenleaf Whittier, An American Poet in American Poetry is owned by Eleanore Whitaker. Permission to republish John Greenleaf Whittier, An American Poet in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.