Poems for the Holidays
Discover poems to read and share during the winter holiday season, including poems for Thanksgiving, Chanukah, Christmas, and New Year's, as well as poems about winter, family, snow, and holiday cheer.
Poems for the Holidays
“A New Law” by Greg Delanty
Let there be a ban on every holiday...
“[little tree]” by E. E. Cummings
little tree...
“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost
Whose woods these are, I think I know...
“Perhaps the World Ends Here” by Joy Harjo
The world begins at a kitchen table…
“Wonder and Joy” by Robinson Jeffers
The things that one grows tired of—O, be sure...
“The 26th of December” by Galway Kinnell
A Tuesday, day of Tiw...
“The Feast of Lights” by Emma Lazarus
Kindle the taper like the steadfast star…
“Holidays” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The holiest of all holidays are those…
“When the Year Grows Old” by Edna St. Vincent Millay
I cannot but remember...
“A Visit from St. Nicholas” by Clement Clark Moore
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house…
“Ode to My Socks” by Pablo Neruda
Maru Mori brought me...
“Meditations on the Fall and Winter Holidays” by Charles Reznikoff
The solid houses in the mist...
“When Giving Is All We Have” by Alberto Ríos
We give because someone gave to us…
“Toward the Winter Solstice” by Timothy Steele
Although the roof is just a story high…
“The Snow Man” by Wallace Stevens
One must have a mind of winter...
“The Snowfall Is So Silent” by Miguel de Unamuno
The snowfall is so silent...
“Between Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice, Today” by Emily Jungmin Yoon
I read a Korean poem...
Poems about Winter
“Snow” by Eliza Cook
Brave Winter and I shall ever agree...
“There’s a certain Slant of light (258)” by Emily Dickinson
There’s a certain Slant of light…
“Winter is good - his Hoar Delights (1316)” by Emily Dickinson
Winter is good - his Hoar Delights...
“The Snow Storm” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Announced by all the trumpets of the sky…
“The Skaters” by Juliana Gray
What a thing to trust your life to...
“Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden
Sundays too my father got up early...
“In drear nighted December” by John Keats
In drear nighted December...
“Woods in Winter” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
When winter winds are piercing chill…
“Before” by Khaled Mattawa
Somewhere between faith and grace...
“After the Winter” by Claude McKay
Some day, when trees have shed their leaves…
“Snow” by Naomi Shihab Nye
Once with my scarf knotted over my mouth…
“Below Zero” by Jay Parini
Ice petals on the trees...
“Winter: My Secret” by Christina Rossetti
I tell my secret? No indeed, not I...
“It is the time of rain and snow” by Izumi Shikibu
It is the time of rain and snow…
“A Winter Blue Jay” by Sara Teasdale
Crisply the bright snow whispered…
“Winter Trees” by William Carlos Williams
All the complicated details...
More Poems for the Holidays
Poems for Thanksgiving
“Thanksgiving Day” by Lydia Maria Child
Over the river, and through the wood...
“A Thanksgiving Poem” by Paul Laurence Dunbar
The sun hath shed its kindly light…
“Thanks” by W. S. Merwin
Listen...
“Thanksgiving in the Anthropocene, 2015” by Craig Santos Perez
Thank you, instant mashed potatoes, your bland taste…
“The Pumpkin” by John Greenleaf Whittier
Oh, greenly and fair in the lands of the sun...
“Thanksgiving” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
We walk on starry fields of white…
Read more poems for Thanksgiving.
Poems for Christmas
“The Christmas Holly” by Eliza Cook
The holly! the holly! oh, twine it with bay...
“A Christmas Carol” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The Shepherds went their hasty way...
“Christmas Eve: My Mother Dressing” by Toi Derricotte
My mother was not impressed with her beauty...
“Christmas Trees” by Robert Frost
The city had withdrawn into itself...
“Taking Down the Tree” by Jane Kenyon
“Give me some light!” cries Hamlet's uncle...
“Wartime Christmas” by Joyce Kilmer
Led by a star, a golden star...
“On the Morning of Christ's Nativity” by John Milton
This is the month, and this the happy morn...
“Christmastide” by Christina Rossetti
Love came down at Christmas …
Related Resources
Poetry Breaks: In this Poetry Breaks video, Robert Bly reads his poem "Driving My Parents Home at Christmas" at his home on Moose Lake in Minnesota. Watch the video below.
Robert Frost's Christmas Cards: Learn more about Robert Frost's Christmas "cards," chapbooks printed annually by Spiral Press from 1929 to 1962.
E. E. Cummings's 1960 Christmas Card: In this card from our archive, E. E. Cummings sends a Christmas greeting like no other, with his own poem and illustration.