Poem about snow as metaphor for depression, dissociation, or autism

November 28, 2018 6:06 AM

I remember seeing an unsettling poem literally about snow* but metaphorically about withdrawing into safe detachment and isolation, perhaps an allegory for dissociation or depression. It might not have been about snow, but I'm pretty sure it was.
posted by ikea_femme to Media & Arts (6 answers total)

This is no real help, but any chance it was a short story rather than a poem? I have definitely read a short story exactly along those lines (read it as a child in the seventies or eighties). Couldn’t tell you a thing about it other than that it fits your description — disassociating person being surrounded by comforting, quiet snow, blocking out other sensory input and people trying to make contact. But I couldn’t give you a title or author.
posted by LizardBreath at 6:22 AM on November 28, 2018

Best answer: Conrad Aiken's "Silent Snow, Secret Snow" is not a poem, but Aiken was a poet. if there is any possibility you're remembering a story with poetic qualities, this is it. it has been adapted (badly, always) for dramatic performance a few times so you might possibly have heard the opening paragraphs' voiceover narration.

it's extremely good and not really an allegory but easy to read that way.

http://fullreads.com/horror/silent-snow-secret-snow/
posted by queenofbithynia at 6:23 AM on November 28, 2018 [6 favorites]

Your description could possibly fit The Snow Man by Wallace Stevens.
posted by Redstart at 6:26 AM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]

And queenofbythnia’s link is exactly the story I was thinking of.
posted by LizardBreath at 6:28 AM on November 28, 2018

Emily Dickinson closed a poem about losing a loved one (or something similar) with:
As freezing persons, recollect the snow -
First - Chill - then Stupor - then the letting go

Generally known by it's first line, "After great pain a formal feeling comes"
posted by LionIndex at 6:36 AM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: It's Silent Snow, Secret Snow! Thank you so much!
posted by ikea_femme at 8:00 AM on November 28, 2018