Introduction:
�The Cross of Snow� is an elegiacal poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It is an autobiographical poem that brings out the poet�s own pain upon the demise of his beloved wife.
About the Poet:
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) was a notable American poet. He holds the honour of having a bust built in the Westminster Abbey. Famous works of his include “The Song of Hiawatha”, �A Psalm of Life� and “The Village Blacksmith”.
Structure:
This poem is structured in the form of a sonnet. It follows the Petrarchan sonnet style and can thus be divided into an octave consisting of 8 lines and a sestet of 6 lines. It is written in iambic pentameter.�
Analysis and Summary:
Octave:
In the long, sleepless watches of the night, A gentle face � the face of one long dead � Looks at me from the wall, where round its head The night-lamp casts a halo of pale light. Here in this room she died; and soul more white Never through martyrdom of fire was led To its repose; nor can in books be read The legend of a life more benedight.
Summary:
The octave begins with a rather ominous image. The poet states how, during the night, he saw �A gentle face�. This face is described to be �the face of one long dead�. This sinister image is washed away when the poet states that the lamp seems to cast �a halo of pale light� around this familiar face. It is then revealed by the poet that �she� � the identity of the face now revealed� had died in the very same room he was currently occupying. He describes her soul to be �more white� than �martyrdom of fire�; books could not compare to the life of her, �The legend�, as it was far �more benedight� or blessed.
Analysis:
Through this stanza, the poet successfully manages to bring out both, the grief that accompanies the death of a loved one as well as the intimacy she had shared with her. He beautifully brings out the love he still feels for his beloved wife.
Sestet:
There is a mountain in the distant West That, sun-defying, in its deep ravines Displays a cross of snow upon its side. Such is the cross I wear upon my breast These eighteen years, through all the changing scenes And seasons, changeless since the day she died.
Summary:
Here, the poet describes a �cross of snow� in a faraway place in the �distant West�. He states that this is akin to the Christian �cross� that he wears �upon his breast�. The poem ends on a mournful note with the poet declaring that ever since her death� for eighteen years� the seasons seemed to never change for him at all.
Analysis:
A shift takes place in the sestet, as is the nature of a Petrarchan sonnet. It shifts from the love he had for her to the void that reigned in the years he lived in her absence. Here, the poet describes a �cross of snow� � the title of the poem� to be the cross he �bears� (a Christian allusion), the snow thus referring to the cold numbness he felt on his wife�s passing. To him, even seasons did not bring about change, meaning to say that her death had brought his life to a complete standstill, filled with grief and sorrow.
Conclusion:
This is a heart-wrenching poem. It brings out the deep love a husband has for his wife even after her death and the aching sorrow he has to cope with in his life devoid of her.�