Poetry for the winter solstice
To celebrate the shortest day of the year, Radio 4 broadcast poetry inspired by winter. Here's how we marked the turning of the season...
Up in the Morning Early
It is never easy to get up from a warm bed into a cold and dark winter morning; Robert Burns knew this well from his days as a ploughman.
Robert Burns - Up in the Morning Early (read by Bill Paterson)
"Cauld blaws the wind frae east to west, The drift is driving sairly"
From his version of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Notes on a journey in winter across a wild landscape and with only a fearsome green giant waiting for you… Simon Armitage thinks Sir Gawain is crossing the Wirral.
'With nerves frozen numb he napped in his armour'
Poet Simon Armitage reads from his translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
In the Mid-Midwinter
A poem for this very day, the solstice, the shortest day, what John Donne called the ‘year’s midnight’ – Liz Lochhead was inspired by John Donne’s poem to write her own and peep around the corner of the year towards lighter days. Performed live on Woman's Hour.
Liz Lochhead reads her poem In the Mid-Midwinter
"Bless us with their long-travelled light"
Rain
Rain is a more familiar winter weather than snow these days and Don Paterson’s love letter to cinematic downpours washes the winter blues away.
Don Paterson reads his poem Rain
"I love all films that start with rain: rain, braiding a windowpane"
Snow
The poet laureate imagines where snow truly comes from and what it is saying to us.
Carol Ann Duffy reads her poem Snow
"Then all the dead opened their cold palms and released the snow"
A Robin
A robin’s winter song is one of the few bird songs that sing us through the season; Walter de la Mare knew that the bird’s crystalline sounds have much to say.
Walter de la Mare's A Robin (read by Noma Dumezweni)
"Ghost-grey the fall of night, Ice-bound the lane"
Perfect Day
Kathleen Jamie’s poem notices how snow alters a landscape but also has the power to change our minds as well.
Kathleen Jamie reads her poem Perfect Day
"Perfect Day I am just a woman of the shore"
Winter Song
Kayo Chingonyi reminds us that winter is not all about wonderlands. A poem from Dagenham, inspired by the music of Wiley.
Kayo Chingonyi reads his poem Winter Song
"The synth lines slide like ice sheets"
(More) Snow
You certainly don’t need forty words for snow – you must just let it settle in your mind. Louis MacNeice wrote this sparklingly different poem in January 1935.
Louis MacNeice's Snow (read by Anton Lesser)
"The great bay-window was spawning snow and pink roses against it"
Frost at Midnight
Coleridge wrote Frost at Midnight in February 1798. His infant son Hartley was sleeping at his side and the poem is addressed to him and his future life but also investigates the very nature of creation – might writing poetry be like the magical formation of ice crystals on the windows and thatched eaves of a cottage?
Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Frost at Midnight (read by Simon Russell Beale)
"The Frost performs its secret ministry"
Four Seasons - Winter
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12 unexpected ways to celebrate the winter solstice
Jump off a 50-foot pole, light a fire at crossroads or hunt for light in an ancient tomb.
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Radio 4 listeners' pictures of winter
To mark the winter solstice, we asked you to send us your photos. Here are the best.
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The Ultimate Winter Quiz
How much you know about this shivery season?
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Four Seasons
Poetry for the turning season.
