This book is about the pleasures to be found in Winter. Beginning with an exquisite passage from the Japanese, translated by Arthur Waley, we turn to those lines from the Old Testament in which Job enquires, "Hast thou entered into treasures of the Snow?" From there we go to two Japanese poems of over a thousand years ago, translated by Arthur Waley. The book includes a generally unknown sonnet of great beauty by Lord Herbert of Cherbury, a little-known poem by Henry King, a song by Wyatt, and strange passages about the Northern Lights by early travellers. There are poems by Blake, Byron, Donne, Phineas Fletcher, Campion, Herrick, Villon, Mallarme, Baudelaire and Marot. There are ten poems "For Christmas Day", including several carols that are little known. There is a section under the heading of "By the Fire", and one devoted to "The Winter Night". The latter contains several religious meditations of great beauty, as well as passages devoted to "Fairies and Spirits". Finally, after all adventures, we find ourselves at the beginning of spring, just as the ice begins to melt.

Author Biography

Edith Sitwell (1887-1964) was born into an aristocratic family and, along with her brothers, Osbert and Sacheverell, had a significant impact on the artistic life of the 20s. She encountered the work of the French symbolists, Rimbaud in particular, early in her writing life and became a champion of the modernist movement, editing six editions of the controversial magazine Wheels. She remained a crusading force against philistinism and conservatism throughout her life and her legacy lies as much in her unstinting support of other artists as it does in her own poetry.