Jan 19, 2022
"January is here, with eyes that keenly glow,
A frost-mailed warrior
striding a shadowy steed of snow."
- Edgar Fawcett
"Nature has undoubtedly mastered the art of winter gardening and even the most experienced gardener can learn from the unrestrained beauty around them."
- Vincent A. Simeone
"Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow."
- Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
"The shortest day has passed, and whatever nastiness of weather we may look forward to in January and February, at least we notice that the days are getting longer. Minute by minute they lengthen out. It takes some weeks before we become aware of the change. It is imperceptible even as the growth of a child, as you watch it day by day, until the moment comes when with a start of delighted surprise we realize that we can stay out of doors in a
twilight lasting for another quarter of a precious hour."
- Vita Sackville-West
"January is the quietest month in the garden. ... But just because it looks quiet doesn't mean that nothing is happening. The soil, open to the sky, absorbs the pure rainfall while microorganisms convert tilled-under fodder into usable nutrients for the next crop of plants. The feasting earthworms tunnel along, aerating the soil and preparing it to welcome the seeds and bare roots to come."
- Rosalie Muller Wright, Editor of Sunset Magazine, 1/99
"There are two seasonal diversions that can ease the bite of any winter. One is the January thaw. The other is the seed catalogues."
- Hal Borland
"Here's to thee, old apple tree
Whence thou mayest bud
Whence thou mayest blow
Whence thou mayest bear apples enow."
- Wassailing Songs, England, January 5th
"It snowed and snowed, the whole world over,
Snow swept the world from end to end.
A candle burned on the table;
A candle burned."
- Boris Pasternak, Dr. Zhivago
"Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne."
- Robert Burns, Auld Lang Syne
"Bare branches of each tree
on this chilly January morn
look so cold so forlorn.
Gray skies dip ever so low
left from yesterday's dusting of snow.
Yet in the heart of each tree
waiting for each who wait to see
new life as warm sun and breeze will blow,
like magic, unlock springs sap to flow,
buds, new leaves, then blooms will grow."
- Nelda Hartmann, January Morn
"From Heaven I fall, though from earth I begin.
No lady alive can show such a skin.
I'm bright as an angel, and light as a feather,
But heavy and dark, when you squeeze me together.
Though candor and truth in my aspect I bear,
Yet many poor creatures I help to insnare.
Though so much of Heaven appears in my make,
The foulest impressions I easily take.
My parent and I produce one another,
The mother the daughter, the daughter the mother."
- James Parton, A Riddle - On Snow
Winter Poems Selected by Barbara Rogansky
A Mind of Winter: Poems for a Snowy Season Selected by Robert Atwan
Winter: A Spiritual Biography of the Season Edited by Gary Schmidt
Poetry for the Winter Season Selected by Christina Hardyment
In Celebration of Winter: A Book of Seasonal Indulgences by Helen Thompson
The Return of the Light: Twelve Tales from Around the World for the Winter Solstice Selected by Carolyn Edwards
While the Bear Sleeps: Winter Tales and Traditions by Caitlin Matthews
"There is a privacy about it which no other season gives you ..... In spring, summer and fall people sort of have an open season on each other; only in the winter, in the country, can you have longer, quiet stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself."
- Ruth Stout
"January, month of empty pockets! … let us endure this evil month, anxious as a theatrical producer's forehead."
- Colette
"Little January
Tapped at my door today.
And said, "Put on your winter wraps,
And come outdoors to play."
Little January
Is always full of fun;
Until the set of sun.
Little January
Will stay a month with me
And we will have such jolly times -
Just come along and see."
~ Winifred C. Marshall, January
"To read a poem in January is as lovely as to go for a walk in June."
- Jean-Paul Sartre
"One of my current pet theories is that the winter is a kind of evangelist, more subtle than Billy Graham, of course, but of the same stuff."
- Shirley Ann Grau
"Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November,
February has twenty-eight alone,
All the rest have thirty-one;
Excepting leap year, that 's the time
When February's days are twenty-nine."
"The name, given to the month of 'January', is derived from the ancient Roman name 'Janus' who presided over the gate to the new year. He was revered as the 'God of Gateways', 'of Doorways' and 'of the Journey.' Janus protected the 'Gate of Heaven', known as the 'Lord of Beginnings', is associated with the 'Goddess Juno-Janus', and often symbolized by an image of a face that looks forwards and backwards at the same time. This symbolism can easily be associated with the month known by many as the start of a new year which brings new opportunities. We cast out the old and welcome in the new. It is the time when many reflect on events of the previous year and often resolve to redress or improve some aspect of daily life or personal philosophy."
- Mysitcal World Wide Web
"January is named after the Roman god Janus, who was always shown as having two heads. He looked back to
the last year and forward to the new one. The Roman New Year festival was called the Calends, and people
decorated their homes and gave each other gifts."
- New Year's Day
"Janus was invoked at the commencement of most actions; even in the worship of the other gods the votary began by offering wine and incense to Janus. The first month in the year was named from him; and under the title of Matutinus he was regarded as the opener of the day. Hence he had charge of the gates of Heaven, and hence, too, all gates, Januoe, were called after him, and supposed to be under his care. Hence, perhaps, it was, that he was represented with a staff and key, and that he was named the Opener (Patulcius), and the Shutter (Clusius)."
- Mary Ann Dwight, Grecian and Roman Mythology
"Ruler of new beginnings, gates and doors, the first hour of the day, the first day of the month, and the first month of the year, the Roman god Janus gave January its name. He was pictured as two-headed (both heads bearded) and situated so that one head looked forward into the new year while the other took a retrospective view. Janus also presided over the temple of peace, where the doors were opened only during wartime. It was a place of safety, where new beginnings and new resolutions could be forged, just as the New Year is a time for new objectives and renewed commitments to long-term goals."
- How January Got Its Name
"New Year ceremonies are designed to get rid of the past and to welcome the future. January is named after the Etruscan word janua which means door."
- New Year's Customs
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