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John Greenleaf Whittier: Snow-Bound

© Linda Sue Grimes

John Greenleaf Whittier was born 17 December 1807 in Haverhill, Massachusetts; he became a crusader against slavery as well as a noted and celebrated poet. He enjoyed the poetry of Robert Burns and was inspired to write as Burns had. At age nineteen Whittier published his first poem in the Newburyport Free Press, edited by the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison. Whittier and Garrison became life-long friends. Whittier's early work reflected his love for the country life, including nature and family. Despite the sedate and often sentimental style of his early poetry, Whittier became an ardent abolitionist, publishing pamphlets against slavery. In 1835 he and fellow crusader George Thompson narrowly escaped with their lives, driving through a barrage of bullets while on a lecture campaign in Concord, New Hampshire. The poet served as a member of the legislature of Massachusetts from 1834-35; he also ran for the US Congress on the Liberty ticket in 1842 and was a founding member of the Republican Party.

He published steadily throughout the 1840s and 1850s, and after the Civil War devoted himself exclusively to his art. He was one of the founders of The Atlantic Monthly. He is best known for his long poem, Snow-Bound: A Winter Idyl, which depicts the activities of his family during a snow storm. The charm of the poem captivates the reader and shows the beauty that Whittier was able to relate.

This poet had faith and an inner vision that rendered him incapable of negating or limiting the experiences of life. He saw all as sparks from the Divine; he was able to show us the beauty and value in things and experiences we miss because of our basic insecurity and lack of faith or unwillingness to look for the good in nature and circumstances.

Snow-Bound: A Winter Idyl is a long poem of 759 lines. It was first published as a single volume in 1866, and it immediately became very popular. In his introduction, Whittier writes, "The inmates of the family at the Whittier homestead, who are referred to in the poem, were my father, mother, my brother and two sisters, and my uncle and aunt both unmarried. In addition, there was the district schoolmaster who boarded with us."

Snow-Bound: A Winter Idyl was greeted with many favorable reviews that focused on the simplicity and power of Whittier's writing. The reviewer for The North American Review writes, "We are indebted again to Mr. Whittier, as we have been so often before, for a very real and very refined pleasure. It is true to nature and local coloring, pure in sentiment, quietly deep in feeling, and full of those simple touches that show the poetic eye and the trained hand." This review eloquently captures the essence of Snow-Bound: A Winter Idyl.

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