Whittier

John Greenleaf Whittier was a very interesting read. In his super long novel like poem titled ‘’ Snow Bound’’ I saw two different sides of Mr. Whittier’s writing. One side being a very dark a almost gothic type writer. The other side I saw was the sunshiny feel good touchy feely kind of writing. Either way, this blend of styles made for a great read.
I want to first take a look at the dark side of John Greenleaf Whittier. Whittier writes, ‘’Unwarmed by any sunset light The gray day darkened into night, A night made hoary with the swarm And whirl-dance of the blinding storm, As zigzag, wavering to and fro, Crossed and recrossed the wingàd snow: And ere the early bedtime came The white drift piled the window-frame, And through the glass the clothes-line posts Looked in like tall and sheeted ghosts. ‘’ (Whittier) Using words like ‘’ere, gray, sheeted ghost’’ I couldn’t help but be reminded about hoe Edgar Allan Poe wrote. Poe wrote in a similar style with a gothic look at life. Making everything sound dark and gloomy, like the world sucks and it is not a good place to be in. Whittier wrote like this in the beginning of this poem to describe the retched snow storm. I think the poem would totally suck if he described the snow storm as pleasant and delightful.
That is the dark side to Mr. Whittier, but there happens to be some good to come out of his poem. Now once Whittier describes the terrors and misfortunes of the snow storm. The mood seems to chance towards the middle of the poem. Whittier writes, ’’ Next, the dear aunt, whose smile of cheer And voice in dreams I see and hear, -- The sweetest woman ever Fate Perverse denied a household mate, Who, lonely, homeless, not the less Found peace in love's unselfishness, And welcome wheresoe'er she went, A calm and gracious element, ‘’ ( Whittier ) This passage describes his lovely aunt. Whittier changes the mood of the story from a ‘’ oh crap this may be a sad story’’ to a pleasant a delightful experience. Family plays a big role in his poem. Which is nice and warm feeling to read about. At the end of snow bound Whittier writes about what? THE SNOW MELTING! Hey! What a surprise the story end happily ever after.
In conclusition I enjoyed reading and doing research on Mr. Whittier. I would call him the greatest poet ever, but I found him to be a great read.