Travelling on the journey of a ‘Winter Syntax’

Analysis of Winter Syntax by Billy Collins

Despite the self-explanatory introduction of this poem through the title ‘Winter Syntax’, I was very perplexed (as usual) about what it was all about. I mean first there is a “sentence” that “starts out like a lone traveler” and then someone “lifts a gun from the glove compartment” but suddenly decides to “toss it out the window”. But as I read the poem again (for the 57.8^th time), I realized that ironically my confusion in understanding the poem is perhaps the same struggle the poet tried to portray in the poem; the struggle of arranging words and phrases to create well-formed sentences that can be viewed as adequate expression of thoughts.

In the first stanza, we are introduced to the “lone traveler” who guides us through this “blizzard at midnight” and yet “persists in his misery” just so that in the end he can “express a complete thought”. This also represents the starting’s of a sentence where it’s all empty as one doesn’t have the embellishments of language such as structure or imagery. Furthermore, the fact that he occasionally refers to us the reader directly through attaching parts of his journey such spotting “the vine of smoke rising from your (ours) chimney”, forces us to relish in his struggles and in the end even feel inclined to congratulate him for finishing his train of thought. One can almost sense that the poem was structured in a way that follows the design of a cleverly constructed argument. He doesn’t give us an opportunity to alienate ourselves from the struggles of composing anything, but rather, reminds us of eloquence and beauty of language and just about how, with enough determination and “struggling all night” we will be able to create beautiful sentences! In-fact, the use of the word “connoisseurship” in stanza two is what emphasizes on the articulateness in the art of language. It might be a simple as holding “a girl’s face in your hands like a vase”, but yet, as the poet later states, it’s these “cool moments” that cause the work of art to be “blazing” or coming to life.

Nonetheless, while this poem may be considered an allegory to process of writing, some reader’s also interpret it as a metaphor for life! Yes, in the midst of this excursion we call life, we all try to find correlations that pacify the struggles we face. In this poem, the personification of the “sentence” as a “lone traveler” illustrates of the hardships encountered. However, despite the “shivering” and the attempts to shield our faces from the “blizzards” that we may face, just like the end of this poem, we may find an ending to our troubles. Throughout the poem, we witness warnings not to give up such as in stanza two, fear is created when the narrator says “you lift a gun from the glove compartment”. The monotonous tone created through the repetition of the word “you” as a start of the sentences, reminds one of a horror or action movie where a victim is about to be attacked. Here we are reminded that sometimes we may want to call it quits and pull out, but as we are directed to “toss it out the window”, we are given hope to not give up. Furthermore, the variation in sentence length throughout the poem exemplifies the journey towards success for the writer and the reader. The long sentences are often filled with a series of imagery that make it more powerful and also emphasize on the different adventures one would encounter in life. The short sentences act like transitions to show how it’s all cycle. But then despite, this one doesn’t feel trapped, rather they get more encouraged to fight their way through their struggles and get satisfied and be able to “smile” despite being “draped in sparkling frost” and having a “beard of icicles”.

Finally, not to forget, the use of winter a setting plays an influential role in the atmosphere of the poem. In many works of literature, winter is used a symbolism for despair and yet at the same time hope. Author C.S Lewis often used winter to represent a time of hopelessness and despair under the rule of the white witch in Narnia. Therefore, it’s a time where a lot of action doesn’t happen and many things die due to the depressing conditions. But in the end of winter often comes new beginnings. In this poem, we evidently witness the harshness of winter, but towards the end, we note with gratitude that the “lone traveller” indeed achieves what he wanted to.

Keith Mulvihill climbing the snowy Tuckerman Ravine Trail  

While you’re here, check out the Poetry Pairing by New York Times, which is a combination of a poem and an audio slideshow related to the theme of the poem. Here Billy Collins’s ‘Winter Syntax’ is matched with the story of Keith Mulvihill who together with a reporter, photographer and mountaineer, navigate the snowy Tuckerman Ravine Trail along the Presidential Range in New Hampshire.

Link: Winter Hiking