The Image of Winter



A misty Linlithgow Loch

    I'm never too excited about the onset of winter. Short daylight hours, long dark nights and the biting cold winds instantly come to the forefront of my mind.  However, the sudden changes in the landscape in the northern hemisphere at this time of year, has in the past stimulated the minds of many writers.

Frosty trees

    Robert Burns writes about the leafless bower in his poem titled, A Winter Night. John Keats tells us of how his face feels the winter wind in his poem, The Winter Winds and Robert Louis Stevenson describes the frost on the trees, houses, hills and lakes being like the frosting on a wedding cake in his poem called, Winter-Time.

    When I was out walking the other day I couldn't ignore the beauty that the early stages of winter has already bestowed upon us. The look of the leaves as they turn a russet colour, the mist as it dropped over the loch, the frosted countryside and the sound of the winter geese flying over, quickly outweighed the negatives that were trying to take root. Without a doubt, winter will carry on inspiring writers to write about it, forever and a day.

    Are you inspired by the seasons in your part of the world? Please tell us your thoughts.