Camelot, cloaked in mists,
shimmers on the distant hilltops.
I can see my footprints, faint and cracked
at its bolted gates.
She dresses quietly, our eyes
never meet and Guinevere leaves
even before the door has closed.
In silence, I sit late into the night
listening for her footsteps, but I know
the trains have stopped running.
In a panic, I run into my world
between the pencil and the page.
I write all my memories,
some true, most imagined—
imagined memories are better
than no memories of her at all.
Snow is falling on the roof.
May’s poems shiver on the page,
the garden spiders died in September
and the nights are drawing in.
Winter has arrived.
Part of the Old Stories cycle of poems
A few words about the poem…
Winter - A Poem of Loss in the Series Melancholy Poems
"Winter" explores themes of loss, memory, and the passage of time through a narrative imbued with a subtle sense of melancholy. The poem opens with a vision of Camelot, cloaked in mists and shimmering on distant hilltops, invoking a sense of mythical beauty that contrasts with the stark reality of the speaker's present. The footprints outside Camelot’s bolted gates suggest a past once accessible, now closed off and unreachable.
The relationship between the speaker and Guinevere is central to the poem. The quiet dressing and the absence of eye contact signify a profound disconnect, her departure leaving the speaker in a state of solitary reflection. The silent, late-night vigil, coupled with the cessation of trains, symbolizes the end of movement and communication, further emphasizing the finality of her departure.
The speaker’s response to this loss is to retreat into the realm of writing, where memories, both true and imagined, offer solace. The act of writing becomes a means to preserve and recreate the past, suggesting that the imagined memories provide a comfort that reality no longer can.
The imagery of snow falling on the roof, melancholy poems shivering on the page, and the death of garden spiders heralds the arrival of winter, both literally and metaphorically. The seasonal change reflects the speaker’s internal landscape, marking the onset of a period of introspection and emotional coldness.
Overall, "Winter" presents a poignant meditation on the nature of memory and the inevitability of change, using rich imagery and a reflective tone to convey its themes. The poem’s subtle interplay between myth and reality, memory and imagination, encapsulates the speaker's struggle to cope with loss and the passage of time.
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