# The Snowstorm explained — Magnolia Leaves

> Chapter companion for Magnolia Leaves by Mary Weston Fordham.

## What happens

A lyrical poem celebrating the beauty and purity of a snowstorm, describing the snow as gentle, pure, and angelic, and welcoming it with song.

## Themes in this chapter

### Nature and the Sublime

The poem depicts the snowstorm as a sublime natural phenomenon, emphasizing its beauty, purity, and celestial origin.

## Key lines

> Gentle as a maiden’s dream, Softly as the gliding stream, Falls the glittering, sparkling snow.

The snow falls gently and softly, like a maiden's dream or a smooth stream, glittering and sparkling.

_Opens the poem with a serene, romanticized image of snowfall._

> Symbol pure, and emblem sweet! Type of purity! ’twere meet That many swell the strain attuned.

The snow is a pure and sweet symbol, a type of purity, and it would be fitting for many to join in song about it.

_Highlights the snow as a metaphor for purity and invites communal celebration._

> Pure, white snow, I welcome thee, Hymning lays of minstrelsy.

I welcome you, pure white snow, singing songs of minstrelsy.

_Concludes with a direct address to the snow, welcoming it with song._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/magnolia_leaves_se/chapters/the-snowstorm
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/magnolia_leaves_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/magnolia_leaves_se/chapters