Local Literary Musings:
William Cullen Bryant’s A Winter Piece

Remember Cummington native William Cullen Bryant, who was featured in the Sept/Oct 2016 edition of Learning Ahead? After a career in New York, Bryant returned to his childhood home in Cummington when he was 71. Bryant’s early poetry is very much influenced by the landscape of the Western Massachusetts Hilltowns of his youth. In fact, Bryant’s A Winter Piece is a reflection on this time of year.  Even though the summer is gone, Bryant notes in his poem how winter has an unexpected beauty that is still marvelous to behold. 

The poem is a meditation on this season, and one to read on a quiet winter’s day or perhaps before a winter walk in the woods.  The first part of Bryant’s poem refers to the woods where he hiked as a child near the Rivulet.  Visitors can still go to this hiking spot, now a trail maintained by The Trustees of Reservations at the William Cullen Bryant Homestead in Cummington.

Download our Jan/Feb edition of Learning Ahead: Cultural Itinerary for Western Massachusetts for embedded learning opportunities found in cultural resources that exist within the geography, history, and cultural traditions of Western Massachusetts.

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