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Winter Night

A full moon fills the sky with lustrous light
And gives the vault of heaven in the night
A golden sheen that gilds the cloudy wisps
That drift across the sky like phantom ships.

The moon’s glow falls upon the ice-bound lake,
On frosted reeds and brambles in the brake,
On snow-encrusted limbs of leafless trees
That stand like shining angels in the leas.

A sacred stillness holds all things in place
At this late hour of rare celestial grace,
When heaven’s glory bathes a frozen scene,
Disrobing beauty, gleaming and pristine.

Yet who is witness to this wondrous sight?
Who sees the naked valley glowing bright,
Since now, throughout the incandescent dell,
All eyes are sealed by sleep´s seductive spell?

Only the birds who tremble in their nest,
And tiny foxes waking from their rest,
And baby deer who through the woods now go,
In silence, keeping close to mother doe,

And I! whose wakeful eyes in awe behold
This scene, whose loveliness cannot be told;
For human words imperfectly convey
The magic of a night lit up like day.

Its splendor glistens, as the winter moon
Ignites both ice and snow, like jewels strewn
Across a landscape dazzling to the eye
Whose beauty none who sees it can deny.

Such radiant things are hidden from the sight
Of those who sleep throughout the frigid night;
But chosen souls, awakened by God’s hand,
Behold His hidden works and understand.

God’s world is full of wonders to behold!
If we have eyes to see them when the cold
And dark of winter lull the world to sleep,
And multitudes in drifts lie buried deep.

Remember this, and please do not forget—
God has bright visions for His people yet!
But sleepyheads will never have a peep
Of wonders seen by those who vigil keep.

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Martin Rizley grew up in Oklahoma and in Texas, and has served in pastoral ministry both in the United States and in Europe. He is currently serving as the pastor of a small evangelical church in the city of Málaga on the southern coast of Spain, where he lives with his wife and daughter. 

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15 Responses

  1. Dick Lackman

    Beautiful poem. Poetry is so wonderful as it can capture a moment with vivid imagery not usually found in prose. You certainly did visualize the scene so clearly that I can see it in my mind’s eye as if I was there.

    Reply
    • Martin Rizley

      Thank you, Dick, for your feedback. Sometimes, I am moved to write a poem by pictures I see, and that is the case with this poem. The imagery in the poem drew its inspiration from a classic oil painting by the 19th century German painter Johann Gustav Lange, named “Full Moon over Winter Landscape.” Lange was a wonderful landscape painter whose works all seem to have a sublime, mystical feel to them. He painted many winter landscapes that are quite beautiful, which you can see on the internet.

      Reply
  2. Mark Stellinga

    A wonderfully vivid image for one who’s witnessed it only in their mind, Martin! This is a beautiful and easily envisioned picture, and you’ve rightly given credit where credit is due. Great job –

    Reply
    • Martin Rizley

      Thank you so much, Mark, for your comments. I am glad you enjoyed the poem. My remarks to Dick above tell a little about how I came to write it.

      Reply
  3. Roy E. Peterson

    This is inspired writing that inspired me with the beauty, sagacious imagery, and sensory details that come alive in my mind. The wonder of such a “Winter Night” has been a subject of poetry, art, and song for the ages and your beautiful rendition should be destined to take its place among the best loved.

    Reply
    • Martin Rizley

      Roy, I really appreciate your words of appreciation for the poem. What Joyce Kilmer said about trees applies to winter landscapes as well: “Poems are made by fools like me/ But only God can make a tree”. No poem describing a winter landscape could ever hold a candle to the divine original, but as you yourself well know, that doesn´t stop us poets from seeking to express with words the sense of wonder we feel looking about us at the incredible beauty with which God has graced His creation.

      Reply
  4. T. M.

    Martin: The last stanza in particular stands out as clarifying the whole. You give wider meaning to “sleepyheads” which, when I go back from there and read the poem again, makes the scene you describe a type of all creation and all seasons, and the “sleepyheads” a not-so-veiled message to today’s lazy believers, who know what Scripture says about the revelation of God in creation, but just can’t manage to give the time to “read” it there. Thanks for a fine work. T. M.

    Reply
    • Martin Rizley

      Thanks, T.M., for your feedback. You are right in seeing a deeper meaning to the term “sleepyheads” and the imagery of a world slumbering in the midst of radiant beauty which only a few awakened souls see. I think the basic idea that I wanted to convey is that the creation does indeed shine with the glory of God, as we read in Psalm 19: “The heavens are telling the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” But in our natural state, that beauty is “hidden” from us; our eyes are blinded so that we fail to perceive what ought to be self-evident. (I think of the self-assured atheistic philosopher, for example, who reduces the whole of reality to mindless matter moving about without direction or purpose and expects no cosmic end but the “great freeze” of eternal death). God Himself must “awaken” us from our slumber to perceive and appreciate, as you put it, “the revelation of God in creation.” Moreover, those who are awake have a duty to “keep vigil” and not be drawn back into a state of spiritual somnolence.

      Reply
    • Martin Rizley

      Thank you, Yael, for your comments and for sharing the video of the Chopin nocturne. I agree that the music captures the mood of the winter scene. I love the way that the arts interact with each other as sources of inspiration. Many composers have been moved to write songs or instrumental pieces of music by poetry they have read, and many poets have been moved to write poems by musical compositions they have heard, or works of art they have seen.

      Reply
  6. Gary Borck

    You have conveyed a wonderful aura to your readers in this delightful piece of poetry, Martin.

    The form and language are truly poetic, and I love the analogy you use at the end.

    Reply
  7. Shamik Banerjee

    There are so many beautiful winter nighttime scenes incorporated into this poem. The moonlit lake is my favourite. Comparing snow-dressed trees with radiant angels is a gripping idea. I really appreciate the message you’ve conveyed, Mr. Rizley. God’s wonders are endless. It’s just that, most of the time, we are the “sleepyheads.” Thanks for this beautiful wintertime piece.

    Reply
  9. BDW

    I must admit to being drawn by the painting Mr. Mantyk uploaded.

    “Moonlit Winter Landscape” by Carl Blechen: 1836
    by Ewald E. Eisbruc

    He saw the “Moonlit winter landscape” on the Internet
    the painting done by Carl Blechen—indirect…intent—
    He saw the distant pale Moon, white in the evening sky.
    He saw the bare and leafless trees rise long and black and high.
    He saw the cold, blue atmosphere, the snow out far and wide.
    He saw the near brown rugged ground touched by Moonlight and ice.
    He saw a fallen log up front and center in the scene.
    Was there a sitting fox at one side, looking, studying,
    a strange contorted row of trees behind him in the dark,
    lit from the Moonlight, for a moment, baring stark, stirn Carl.

    And now having read Mr. Rizley’s poem, I should look up Lange’s painting.

    Reply

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