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Snow Sonnet

Where silent flakes of whiteness fill the air
And cutting winds of winter come to rule
The bitter storm of new year strips all bare
With iciness at once perfect and cruel.
We drift into an otherworldly realm
Where spectral pallor shrouds the sleeping earth
Such beauty threatens quite to overwhelm
Precursor of renaissance and rebirth.
This ghostly splendour spirits life away
As in communion with those laid to rest
And we must ponder the remorseful day
When human loss is crying to be blessed.
Immerse yourself in the phantasmal light
Which yields too soon to all-consuming night.

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Susan Norvill is a writer and poet based in Kent, UK. During the 1990s she served as editor of The Hong Kong Industrialist and wrote speeches for members of the Hong Kong government. For many years she worked in financial editing in the City of London. Other work has included a column for BBC Kent and in 2022 she collated and edited poetry and prose publication United for Ukraine (published by Boudicca Press). A member of The Authors’ Club, her poetry was long listed for the 2023 Bloom Writing Contest and has featured on the radio and in The European Literary Review.

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18 Responses

  1. Paul A. Freeman

    Great stuff, Susan, full of vivid imagery.

    My fave line is ‘Precursor of renaissance and rebirth’, which also sums up the topic of the poem.

    Thanks for the read.

    Reply
    • Susan Norvill

      Thank you so much, Paul. I love a snow scene when the world is fleetingly still and we can escape to another realm.

      Reply
  3. Clare Law

    This is haunting, and captures so well that cold, eerie feeling winter can have. That snow light is deceptive, particularly during the shortest, darkest days of the year.

    Reply
    • Susan Norvill

      Thank you, Clare. Yes, I always feel the symbolic purity of snow raises questions of immortality and the quiet has an eeriness of its own.

      Reply
  4. Roy Eugene Peterson

    Susan, you have written a beautiful sensory poem with vivid words that include alliteration and creativity. A pleasure to read.

    Reply
    • Susan Norvill

      Thank you so much, Roy. I am glad you enjoyed the poem and that I was able to convey some of the magic such scenery evokes!

      Reply
  5. Gigi Ryan

    Susan,
    This sonnet puts me in mind of the winter in Narnia. I especially love the last line. The flow is delightful. I love it. Thank you.
    Gigi

    Reply
    • Susan Norvill

      Many thanks, Gigi. Yes, winter in Narnia is a wonderful thought! The feeling of escapism in otherworldly realms is so incredibly strong when the world is blanketed in snow.

      Reply
  6. Gavin Rodney

    Susan, you have perfectly captured that feeling of life itself being frozen and suspended during bleak winters. Beautiful poem. Gavin

    Reply
    • Susan Norvill

      Thank you, Gavin. Yes, I feel the suspension of life is most evident during winter and am so glad you liked the sonnet.

      Reply
  8. Becky J

    Beautiful poem – so evocative, and calming, and strangely sad, and magical. I want to live in the world of your snow sonnet I think.

    Reply
    • Susan Norvill

      Thank you, Becky. Yes, there is definitely something magical, yet strangely sad, as the globe turns away from the sun and unearthliness assumes new meaning. I am thrilled you enjoyed the sonnet and would like to live in such a world!

      Reply
  9. Gary Borck

    Susan, you have written a wonderful sonnet which I really enjoy reading. The language, mood and rhythm are outstanding. Very poetic.

    Reply
    • Susan Norvill

      Thank you so much, Gary. I really appreciate your positive comment; am working on a collection of sonnets at present.

      Reply

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