Blizzard

“Blizzard” is primarily a poem of personification. Inside her house, the speaker of the poem watches snow fall, giving it human and then animal characteristics to characterize what the snow reminds her of and what it feels like to be inside of it. These associations change throughout the poem much the way snow itself changes, and the tone is both peaceful and whimsical. The speaker’s view of what the snow is, or what it evokes for her, reflects the fact that the snow itself is changing and subsequently changing the landscape around her.

At first, she characterizes the snow as someone or something that has “forgotten / how to stop” (Lines 2-3) and is “stuttering / at the glass” (Lines 5-6). This personification suggests the snow is not harmful or malicious, but just something or someone who can’t help themselves, someone a little out of control and “stuttering” (Line 5). It seems uncertain about what it is doing, but, in its uncertainty, it causes small amounts of chaos by “tangling trees” (Line 11) that are “like old women / snarled / in their own / knitting” (Lines 13-16). The snow “drifts / up to the step / over the doorsill” (Lines 17-19). These comparisons suggest the snow is making some disorder out of an otherwise tranquil world. At the same time, that disorder is innocuous.

Next, the speaker compares the snow to “a pointillist’s blur” (Line 20). Pointillism is a painter’s technique of placing individual dots in close proximity so that seen as a whole, the dots combine to form shapes and images. The practice is an apt comparison because snow, especially in a blizzard, is itself composed of individual dots of white that combine to form larger shapes across the landscape. In this case, the snow is “shaping itself / to the wish of / any object it touches” (Lines 23-25). In this comparison, the speaker seems to be evolving her idea of the snow. It is no longer “stuttering” (Line 5) and “tangling” (Line 11) the environment but acting more as an artistic material that is “shaping” (Line 23) itself around the landscape. The objects of the landscape are themselves personified as having their own “wish[es]” (Line 24). The “chairs become / laps of snow” (Lines 26-27). This further personifies the landscape, making it seem more inviting in the snow. The chairs have “laps” (Line 27), humanizing them. The word “lap” also suggests something that you can sit in, which contributes to the “coziness” of the personification.

Pastan follows that comforting image with more natural disorder—“the moon could be / breaking apart / and falling” (Lines 28-30). The “breaking apart” (Line 29) connotes a cataclysmic change: Something as significant as the moon “breaking” (Line 29) would be a disaster, yet having moonlight “over the eaves / over the roof” (Lines 31-32) might also be quite beautiful. Her most dramatic comparison is that the blizzard of snow is “a white bear / shaking its paw / at the window” (Lines 33-35). While this might seem scary, the speaker of the poem is safe inside, and the bear, though it may be violent and dangerous, is trapped outside, where it is “splitting the hive / of winter” (Lines 36-37). The speaker next compares the snow to bees in an indirect way, saying the snow is “stinging / the air” (Lines 38-39) Notice that all of her associations are comparisons to actively living people and creatures. The trees are “old women” (Line 13) “knitting” (Line 16). The bear is trying to split open a hive and eat. The snow itself is “stinging” (Line 38) the air.

By contrast, the speaker is safe inside her house. She watches the snow as it is “blowing / under the porch light” (Lines 9-10) and falls “over the eaves / over the roof” (Lines 31-32) and blows against the “glass” (Line 6). It is clear that while the speaker is attentive to the snow outside, entertained by its activity, she herself is observing rather than fighting against the elements. In the final lines, the speaker says, “I pull a comforter / of snow / up to my chin / and tumble / to sleep” (Lines 40-44). The word “tumble” (Line 43) suggests that she is mimicking the snow itself, whose movement is haphazard like something that falls down without care. In this final comparison, she shows how the natural world is affecting her, becoming an “alphabet / of silence” (Lines 46-47). Presumably, it is the snow, making the whole world silent, which induces the speaker to sleep, making her part of this increasingly tranquil world.

The speaker’s perception of the snow, and maybe the snow itself, has actively changed. It moves from being a “stuttering” (Line 5) nuisance, “tangling” (Line 11) the “knitting” (Line 16) of the trees, to being a bigger natural power. The moon “falling” (Line 30) and a bear “splitting / the hive of winter” (Lines 36-37) becomes something quite soft, a “comforter” (Line 40) and an “alphabet / of silence” (Lines 46-47). Through these evolving metaphors, the speaker shows how the blizzard changes the shape of the landscape, making it cozier, or making the house seem cozier so she can “tumble / to sleep” (Lines 43-44).