A Calendar of Sonnets: February

Helen Hunt Jackson 1830 (Amherst, Massachusetts) – 1885 (San Francisco)



Still lie the sheltering snows, undimmed and white;
And reigns the winter's pregnant silence still;
No sign of spring, save that the catkins fill,
And willow stems grow daily red and bright.
These are days when ancients held a rite
Of expiation for the old year's ill,
And prayer to purify the new year's will:
Fit days, ere yet the spring rains blur the sight,
Ere yet the bounding blood grows hot with haste,
And dreaming thoughts grow heavy with a greed
The ardent summer's joy to have and taste;
Fit days, to give to last year's losses heed,
To recon clear the new life's sterner need;
Fit days, for Feast of Expiation placed!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
117

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBAABBACDCDDC
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 638
Words 116
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

Helen Hunt Jackson

Helen Maria Hunt Jackson, born Helen Fiske, was an American poet and writer who became an activist on behalf of improved treatment of Native Americans by the United States government. more…

All Helen Hunt Jackson poems | Helen Hunt Jackson Books

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    "A Calendar of Sonnets: February" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/17040/a-calendar-of-sonnets:-february>.

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