Free Vintage Nature Poem: January by Mary Rowles Jarvis (Part 2)

Here is a winter poem, originally published in 1896, that depicts the month of January as a fierce warrior king whose strength is tempered with a kind heart.

"JANUARY"
by Mary Rowles Jarvis
(Part 2)

His rod of iron, outstretched upon the land,
Arrests the stir and music of the rills;
Again the rushing rains of his right hand
Lay bare the lasting hills.

Yet fear we not this warrior, fierce and bold,
The year has turned, the light shall lengthen soon;
The onslaught of his keen, relentless cold
Shall make straight paths for June.

His ways are stern, his meanings are benign;
Behold, unharmed, the snowdrop on his crest,
While the gold splendour of the celandine
Shines starlike on his breast!

You can find PART 1 here.

The painting above is called "Winter Landscape" by Ivan Fedorovich Choultsé (1874 – 1939). You can find the image of the original painting on Wikimedia here and my digitally enhanced version of the painting here.

If you would like to download the poem as it originally appeared in The Girl's Own Paper (as seen above) with its accompanying black and white illustration, you can find the high-res 9" x 8" @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


Public domain poem is from my personal collection. All digitized poems by FieldandGarden.com are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Please credit and link back to FieldandGarden.com as your source if you use or share this work.

Free Vintage Nature Poem: January by Mary Rowles Jarvis (Part 1)

Here is a winter poem, originally published in 1896, that depicts the month of January as a stern warrior king, bringing snow and ice in his wake as he rides through the fields.

"JANUARY"
by Mary Rowles Jarvis
(Part 1)

Victorious on the utmost crags of time,
From the dread conflict of the midnight sea,
The first-born month draws near with song and chime,
A monarch great and free!

In the red storm-light of the wintry dawn
We see him stand, austere and tempest-crowned,
With sword and spear on many an ice-field drawn
To work his will profound.

His chariot is the north wind that hath crossed,
By leagues of drift and berg, the Polar main;
His sandals are the ploughshares of the frost
That rend the clods in twain.

Continue to PART 2 here.

The painting above is called "Winter Morning in Engadine" by Ivan Fedorovich Choultsé (1874 – 1939). You can find the image of the original painting on Wikimedia here and my digitally enhanced version of the painting here.


Public domain poem is from my personal collection. All digitized poems by FieldandGarden.com are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Please credit and link back to FieldandGarden.com as your source if you use or share this work.

Vintage Art Appreciation: A January Evening in the Haagse Bosch by Louis Apol

A January Evening in the Haagse Bosch, 1875
by Louis Apol (1850 - 1936)
Inhale and hold the evening in your lungs.
― Sebastian Faulks, Engleby

To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter... to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring - these are some of the rewards of the simple life.
― John Burroughs

I love to watch the fine mist of the night come on,
The windows and the stars illumined, one by one,
The rivers of dark smoke pour upward lazily,
And the moon rise and turn them silver. I shall see
The springs, the summers, and the autumns slowly pass;
And when old Winter puts his blank face to the glass,
I shall close all my shutters, pull the curtains tight,
And build me stately palaces by candlelight.
― Charles Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du Mal