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London Snow
Robert Bridges (1844-1930)

London Snow © David Holt Flickr

The Poem R RS Overview

S

When men were all asleep the snow came !ying, 11 Bridges paints an image of the silent nighttime
In large white !akes falling on the city brown, A 11 arrival of a snow which transforms London from
Stealthily and perpetually settling and loosely B 16
a polluted industrial city and lifts the inhabitants
lying, A 12
from their normal gloom into a temporary winter
Hushing the latest tra"c of the drowsy town; B 12
C wonderland.
Deadening, mu#ing, sti!ing its murmurs failing; 13
Lazily and incessantly !oating down and down: D 13
Silently sifting and veiling road, roof and railing; C 13
The snow leaves London unrecognisable, save for

Hiding di$erence, making unevenness even, E 15 the dome of St Paul’s cathedral. All the hustle and
Into angles and crevices softly drifting and sailing. C 11 bustle of this giant mega city is brought to a stop;
All night it fell, and when full inches seven E 13 all signs of inequality are hidden; youthful joy
It lay in the depth of its uncompacted lightness, F 12 and wonder are unleashed; and the army of
The clouds blew o$ from a high and frosty E 14
workers briefly put their woes aside and are lifted
heaven; F 13
by the beauty of their new white city.
And all woke earlier for the unaccustomed G 12
brightness F 13 Mini Glossary
Of the winter dawning, the strange unheavenly G 11
perpetually – constantly or never ending;
glare: H 11
hearkened – an old fashioned way of saying
The eye marvelled – marvelled at the dazzling G 11
listened, Biblical association with ‘hark the herald
whiteness; H 11
The ear hearkened to the stillness of the solemn I 11
angel sings’ hymn;

air; H 13 solemn – dignified, majestic;

No sound of wheel rumbling nor of foot falling, I 12 crystal manna – snow compared to crystals and
And the busy morning cries came thin and spare. J 13 seen as manna, miraculous heavenly food;
Then boys I heard, as they went to school, I 11
asunder – apart, but again old fashioned and with
calling, J 11
Biblical links: ‘those whom God hath joined
They gathered up the crystal manna to freeze K 12
together let no man put asunder’;
Their tongues with tasting, their hands with J 11
snowballing; K 10 Paul’s – St Paul’s Cathedral, which has a large
Or rioted in a drift, plunging up to the knees; L 12 dome that is prominent, even now, in the London
Or peering up from under the white-mossed K 12 skyline;
wonder, L 11 toil – extremely difficult and incessant work.
‘O look at the trees!’ they cried, ‘O look at the M 11
trees!’ L 12
With lessened load a few carts creak and M 13
blunder, O 12
Following along the white deserted way, M 17
A country company long dispersed asunder: O
When now already the sun, in pale display
Standing by Paul’s high dome, spread forth below
His sparkling beams, and awoke the stir of the
day.
For now doors open, and war is waged with the
snow;
And trains of sombre men, past tale of number,
Tread long brown paths, as toward their toil they St Paul's Cathedral
go:
But even for them awhile no cares encumber
Their minds diverted; the daily word is unspoken,
The daily thoughts of labour and sorrow slumber
At the sight of the beauty that greets them, for the
charm they have broken.

"London Snow" by Robert Bridg…

Analysis
Context Robert Bridges had an unconventional route into poetry. His first career was in
medicine and he practiced up until 1882 before he had to retire as he had lung
disease. Throughout his medical career he was based in London, but would move
away to a more rural setting soon after retiring and marrying in 1884. After this
point poetry became his main focus, but his earliest work was privately published
in 1873, while still practicing.

During his lifetime he was never a particularly renowned or well loved poet, even
though he spend the last 17 years of his life as the Poet Laurette. If you have any
interest in World War I poetry (which you definitely should have) you might be
interested to know that he was drafted by the government to write poetry as
propaganda for the war effort.

His poetry is marked for its strong Christian themes and ideas. He also penned
several hymns that remain popular to this day. This is evident in our poem as is his
experience of London life in the nineteenth century.

London at this time was the largest city in the world, but was not the city you might
know or think of today. At this time it was an industrial city that was marked for
its pollution and poor air quality, which was only really tackled after the great
smog of 1952 when 4,000 people were killed by the toxic air in the space of a week.
(Read more) It might be comparable to the situation in some of the major
industrial cities in Asia like Beijing, Shanghai and Bangkok. It was also not
dominated by high flying bankers, stockbrokers and the professional classes, but
had a huge underclass and many people lived in states of absolute poverty.

Themes This poem focuses on the awe inspiring weather and its ability to enthuse and
excite, but alongside this it showcases the power that the weather can have over
man. For all the might and busyness of the world’s biggest city, it is brought to a
near standstill by the downpour. While the industry of the city is brought to its
knees, the people are lifted by the snow and all the imperfections of the city and the
struggles of their lives are momentarily paused as their sense of awe at the beauty
of the scene before them.

As part of the second theme mentioned, we also have a strong social theme here as
Bridges paints a picture of the grim realities of working class existence in London
at the time.
Content The poem begins in the middle of the night as heavy snow begins to silently cover
the city. Any remaining traffic of busyness is quickly hushed and the
imperfections of the city are covered by the thick snow.

By the dawn of the new day, the snow clouds have drifted away, but a thick coating
of snow remains. As the city wakes up, people are awe-struck by the beauty of the
scene, which is created not just by the perfect whiteness, but also the uncommon
silence of the city. This silence is soon disrupted by the gleeful chatter of
schoolchildren fooling around in the snow as kids do.

Next the city tries to come back to life, but the traffic is now restricted to only a few
slow moving and lightly loaded carts struggling along. The prominent sight of St
Paul’s cathedral comes into view as the sun rises. At this point the workers emerge
and battle the conditions to make their way to work and as they go the perfection
of the snow starts to give way to the grime and imperfections of the city again.
However, these workers are lifted from their stress, worry and cares as all is
forgotten in their appreciation of the beauty of the city in the snow.

Language The title here pretty much does what it says on the tin – the poem is about ‘London
Snow’. However, you could argue there is a sense of possession in the phrasing that

and makes this snow somehow more special or more important than snow elsewhere.

Techniqu I’ll leave you to decide whether you think that is the case.

es In a way similar to the sea in ‘The Sea Eats The Land At Home’, the snow arrives
‘when men were all asleep’ and ‘stealthily’, but the connotations here are
completely different. While the time of the sea’s arrival feels calculated to inflict
the most damage, the personified snow’s arrival is peaceful and designed not to
disturb those sleeping in any way. A good way of thinking of the difference would
be to think about a burglar breaking into your house in the middle of the night vs.
Father Christmas silently smuggling presents under a Christmas tree.

Notice this sense is further communicated with the verbs ‘hushing’ and ‘muffling’,
which imply the snow the calm and quiet needed by the ‘drowsy’ town. You can add
to this semantic field of calm words and phrases such as ‘floating’, ‘silently
sifting’, ‘veiling’, ‘softly drifting’, ‘sailing’. All these verbs personify the snow in a
way that suggest considerate and gentle movement, designed so as not to disturb
rest. Here the whole city is also personified and there is a sense that the city needs
a chance to rest as it is ‘drowsy’ as opposed to being asleep like its inhabitants and
it is the snow that settles the whole city with ‘murmurs failing’ reflecting the idea
of someone in an uneasy sleep finally being able to relax.

At the time London was the biggest city in the world and it continues to be one of
those cities that people talk about as that never sleeps, meaning there is constantly
something going, some busyness, excitement and noise. Bridges hints at this as
even now ‘the latest traffic’ needs to be stilled. However, it is not just the whine and
grind of the city that means it needs to rest, but also its appearance and soul (if you
like). The snow settles on the ‘city brown’ associates the city with a sense of being
dirty or unclean. Later, the workers ‘tread long brown paths’ revealing this again
and reinforcing this sense of uncleanliness. We can take this two ways: London at
the time was an industrial city suffering the ill effects of pollution and the stains of
industry and the smoke and soot would have left buildings somewhat blackened;
but this can also be interpreted as a metaphor for the conditions of the people
living in the city.

As mentioned in the Context section, London was a city of haves and have nots,
with a huge underclass of people scraping a living and existence alongside the most
affluent people in the whole of the British Empire. So when the snow hides the
‘brown’ it is hiding this ugliness and this is further suggested by the idea that it is
‘hiding difference, making unevenness even’. Literally the imagery here shows us
level surfaces created by the blanket of snow, but metaphorically this can be seen
to represent all the imperfect and signs of poverty being covered up and the whole
city looking like one.

Bridges also seems to hint at that in some of his initial verb choices to describe the
descent of the snow. Above I listed a number of verbs that gave the impression of
softness and care, but in amongst these verbs we also have verbs with more
negative connotations such as ‘deadening’ and ‘stifling’. These imply the opposite
of allowing for rest and give the snow a mean streak. However, the juxtaposition of
these two groups of verbs is deliberate and is designed to show the snow as being
sympathetic to the people, but not to the grind of the city that disturbs their peace.
It is also described as falling ‘perpetually’ and ‘incessantly’ suggesting a will and
determination to achieve its aim. All the imperfections and stresses of London are
targets and killed off or stifled for now.

The reaction to the snow demonstrates that this dual purpose has been successful.
Not only does London sparkle in its new coat of white (explored three paragraphs
down), but its inhabitants are filled with joy and wonder. First we see this with the
school children for whom the snow is ‘crystal manna’. In the Bible, God provides
the Israelites with manna, a miraculous and divine food, to sustain them while they
wander around in the desert doing God-knows what. For these children, the snow
provides them the same relief and thus suggests that they find their school days
akin to the way the Israelites found the desert (pretty bleak). (Note that schools a
hundred years ago were not the pleasure ride that you lot enjoy today and they
were probably being bored to death with ancient Greek translations and being
whacked with the cane every ten seconds). The strict code in British schooling at
the time stands in contrast to the way they ‘rioted’ in the snow and this suggests
that its arrival has given them a sense of freedom and joy, an opportunity to rebel
and be proper kids.

We also have the reaction to the snow of London’s workers. Described as ‘trains of
sombre men’, Bridges is suggesting an image of the working class masses flocking
to the factories and warehouses of London. By metaphorically comparing them to
‘trains’ he creates a sense of how their lives are dominated by routine and schedule,
implying they are part of some sort of unstoppable machine. He adds the
hyperbolic ‘past tale of number’ to emphasise the sheer scale of this impoverished
class. The social message here is clear as the poem presents them as having cares
that ‘encumber’ and having ‘daily word… [and] daily thoughts of labour and
sorrow’. This suggests that their lives are a constant struggle and dominated by
work and sadness.

However, for one moment these are put on hold. All the terms above are framed in
terms of being paused or delayed. ‘But even for them awhile no cares encumber’
tells us they are freed from their normal tensions and their miserable words and
thoughts are ‘unspoken’ or ‘slumber[ing]’. Although their condition and lives have
not changed, ‘the beauty that greets them’ as they emerged from their homes is
enough to make them forget their worries and simply revel in the brilliance of
nature. However, notice that Bridges moderates this with the adverb ‘awhile’
reminding us that this is only going to be short-lived. The final phrase ‘the charm
they have broken’ that this imagery has freed them from a spell cast over them
forcing them to continue their miserable lives. Bridges does not go further to
suggest that this is permanent and the fact that their journeys to work leave ‘long
brown paths’ implies that the bleak reality of their lives will soon be fully realised
again.

Let’s return now to exploring how Bridges presents the newly white city. As the day
dawns people are awoken by ‘the unaccustomed brightness’ also referred to as ‘the
strange unheavenly glare’. The visual imagery here literally depicts the bright
reflection of the pure white snow, but goes further to suggest that this is more than
a sunny or a pleasant day. When Bridges uses the phrase ‘unheavenly’ don’t think
he means the opposite of heaven, but rather he wants to associate heaven and
London in the snow as if to say this is a not-quite divine ‘dazzling’ image, but pretty
close. The words ‘strange’ and ‘unaccustomed’ can be taken literally as showing
this brightness is uncommon, but also as linking to this idea of the grim and
poverty of London being so far disassociated with idea of brightness and divinity.

In response to the visual imagery, ‘the eye marvelled – marvelled’. The repetition
makes us feel as if the beauty forces us to do a double take and take the time to
appreciate the beauty. The boys playing do the same thing as they repeat ‘O look at
the trees’, which shows how even in their excitement and games they are overcome
by the sheer magnificence of nature’s beauty. In the same way, Bridges use of
anaphora (‘The eye…’, ‘The ear…’) demonstrates the feeling that the whole scene is
so impressive the people feel the need to take it all in. This second line here gives
us aural imagery showing an appreciation of the ‘stillness of the solemn air’ and
enjoyment the peace of the scene as much as the beauty.

The last thing I want to look at here is the use of Biblical allusion. The Bible is
pretty consistent on its theme that all men are equal in the eyes of God and the
snow is seen as producing this levelling effect as touched on before. We also have
the commonly accepted association between the colour white and purity, divinity
and holiness. If you are not convinced of the religious angle of this poem, consider
the reference to ‘the sun… standing by Paul’s high dome, [and] spread[ing] forth
below his sparkling beams’. St Paul’s cathedral is the centre of Christian London
and while it’s dome is dominant in the London skyline, that is not the only reason it
is being referred to. It is also suggesting some sort of divinity in the scene, as if the
snow, the cathedral and the sun have decides to work together to create this image
of divinity.

Still not convinced? There is also a subtle use of biblically associated words, such as
‘frosty heaven’, ‘unheavenly glare’, ‘crystal manna’ and a couple of others I haven’t
yet touched upon. The ear ‘hearkened’ recalls the use of the phrase ‘hark’ in the
Bible (6 times) and in Christian hymns (‘Hark, the herald angel sings, glory to our
new born King’). In the Bible we don’t just listen to God or his angels, but we ‘hark’
suggesting what they’ve got to say is pretty important. Similarly the roads of
London are abandoned by ‘a country company long dispersed asunder.’ The word
asunder is used 46 times in the Bible and I can’t think of a single other use I’ve
come across. It means to split apart, but when it is used in the Old Testament (the
good bit where everyone goes round killing each other) it usually sounds quite
brutal. This matches up with the idea in the poem that the sounds and stresses of
London life are brought to a halt and silenced in an unsympathetic manner in
favour of bringing calm for the people.

I think I’ve convinced you now. Bridges use of these references makes us view the
struggle of the workers in Christian terms and perhaps was designed to make
people more sympathetic to their conditions and think about ways to improve their
lot. Alternatively he is just associating the power and majesty of nature with God.
 Structure The poem is one long stanza and Bridges uses enjambment throughout and only
three definite pauses to reflect the unrelenting snow storm at the beginning of the
poem. The syllable count of the lines is irregular and reflects the rhythms of speech
rather than conforming to any poetic standard.

The rhyme scheme is very important to this poem. Bridges uses alternate line
rhymes, with each rhyme (apart from the opening and closing rhyme) being
repeated three times. This again helps reflect the snow falls as it seems continuous
as their is no break between rhyming sections, but a constant overlap. It also has a
musical effect and contributes to this semi-divine image as we listen to the poem.

The musicality of the poem is also contributed to by the repetitive use of present
continuous verbs (‘ing’) throughout the opening eight lines and some internal
rhyme used at different points of the poem. We also have the use of sibilance in
the opening which helps establish the gentleness of the snow’s arrival (‘Stealthily’,
‘settling’, ‘silently sifting’, ‘softly’, ‘sailing’).

Tone On first read this poem feels like the snow fall itself, calm and gentle appreciation
of the wonder of the beauty of the scene. However, as you read it again, we have
these harsher conflicting elements that make this poem more than simply about
appreciation the majesty of the image, with the tone reflecting a subtle frustration
at the conditions and lives of London’s workers.

! "

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