Snow descends to the earth like a silent white tale drifting from the sky. Each flake, twirling and dancing in the air, seems like a memory torn from time and merged with eternity.
As one of the most enchanting motifs in literature, snow has inspired many novels and poems. Orhan Pamuk’s novel Snow (Kar) tells the story of a search for political and personal identity set against the cold, snowy backdrop of Kars. “Snow falls over the streets of Kars in a deep and silent hush, footprints vanish instantly, and the shadows of the past remain hidden behind a white curtain.” This scene illustrates that snow is not merely a natural phenomenon but a metaphor that deeply connects with the characters’ emotional states. In the world of poetry, Yahya Kemal Beyatlı’s Snow Melodies (Kar Musikileri) captures the silent and serene aspect of snow with the lines: “This is the melody of a night lasting more than a thousand years; / This is the sound of snow, thought to last a thousand years.” The white cover of snow is depicted as a music that halts the flow of time. Similarly, in Necip Fazıl Kısakürek’s Sidewalks (Kaldırımlar), the poet describes cold and lonely winter nights: “Snow will fall on one side, and I will walk on the other; / A feeling of infinity will stretch in my heart, as deep as the snow.” Here, snow transforms into a symbol of solitude and the boundlessness of the human soul. In Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar’s novel A Mind at Peace (Huzur), snow intertwines with melancholy and nostalgia: “Beyond the window, snow falls with infinite patience, swaying like a delicate veil between the sky and the earth. As Nuran and I wandered through the traces of the past, this white silence was like a shroud drawn over memories lost in time.” Here, snow opens a gateway to a limitless world between the past and the future.
In Sait Faik Abasıyanık’s short story Cloud in the Air (Havada Bulut), snow becomes a metaphor for modern human loneliness and the connection with nature: “A man wandering alone in the streets felt as if he were in a timeless place while walking under the falling snow. As the snow fell upon him, it silenced even his voice and erased the boundaries of his existence.” These lines reveal the quiet communication between humans and nature. As a natural event that brings both tranquility and mystery, snow takes on various meanings in literature through the pens of different writers and poets. Perhaps this is why, when snow falls, we feel differently, think differently, and once again surrender to the magic of literature.
Resources:
(Ufuk Yasin, 2020)
(Favzi Budak, 2022)
(Mehmet Kaplan, 2019)
(Deniz Filiz, 2024)