The callous winter night
too lethal, freezing bright
so cold with scattered stars
pockmarked face with scars.
temptress and assassin,
always reeks of jasmine.
of pestilence and rust
frozen from ferocious lust;
the deadly winter gloom
both destiny and doom
this callous winter night.
Aleksey Savrasov
Today De hosts the Quadrille at dVerse and the word is “star”
February 6, 2022
Björn Rudbergs writings 
The bleak image fits the poem perfectly, Björn, and your poem left me with an attack of the shivers. I love the personification in the lines:
‘so cold with scattered stars
pockmarked face with scars.
temptress and assassin’
and the reek of jasmine, pestilence and rust made my nose tingle.
For me starlight is always very cold
Such sharp, dark images here, B. Beautifully spilled. Sending you some southern Nevada sunshine. 🙂
“Ferocious lust” and “frozen” have never been entertained together in my mind. A dynamic image that created! Thanks.
Sometimes they go hand in hand
Having trouble commenting. Sigh. Loving the dark, sharp images here, B. Sending you some Vegas area sunshine.
Both your comments came through
Love how you liken the night to a femme fatale. “Both destiny and doom” is just right for his situation.
Profound in a dark sort of light.
“both destiny and doom”
much❤love
Yeah, that closing couplet is killer-diller, sums up this outstanding work perfectly. Thanks, Bjorn
This has a very classical feel to it. It’s also extremely cold!
a callous winter night…..and the image you’ve selected expresses it perfectly.
I’m really enjoying the phrase “too lethal,” as if lethal is a quantity and some is okay, but you don’t want too much lethal.
Wow – winter must be harsh in your part of the world. What wonderfully descriptive writing.
Well done Bjorn.
“this deadly winter gloom
both destiny and doom
this callous winter night” is a nice summary, Bjorn. We been having that last week, down in the thirties (F) last week but now it’s better. Most in the 70″s for afternoons, a couple of 60’s, makes it hard to remember cold Nebraska plains harsh winters. I tell that I left two snow shovels up there when I came to Southeast Texas (Houston). One in Nebraska and the other in New Hampshire. Thanks for this telling eerie and dreary “treat”.
‘ferocious lust’ and ‘destiny and doom’ – adds chills to the bleak imagery in the poem. And the art works so well with it.
One can feel the coldness of winter. Last weekend it was extremely cold here negative 27 degrees. The wind was vicious.
I wouldn’t have thought to see the night sky as scarred but now I do. “too lethal, freezing bright” Yes, when it’s so cold it cuts and stings. But those stars are still distracting.
Hang in there. The days are getting longer, etc
Oh, the dangerous temptation of your words. I really like the rhythm and rhyme of this.
Jasmine? Does it really, Björn? That made me think!
❤
David
I was thinking of the scent of a funeral wreath
Oh, I’m not familiar with those
Such great imagery involving all the senses–pockmarked face, smelling of jasmine and pestilence, and I love “frozen from ferocious lust.”
Lovely rhyming dark poem, Bjorn. 🙂
Winter is indeed brittle–even the night sky. (K)
Your stars are icy like snowflakes. I imagine stars as illuminating. Both are beautiful ☺️ ⭐️
Striking and bleak. Well done.
A rhyming quadrille … don’t see too many of them ~ yours is exquisite! And the perfect wintry description.
The deathly gloom of winter personified as an assassin makes it that much more hard to take. Even the jasmine scent reminiscent of spring becomes cloying rather than cheering.
Your words evoke an imagery that gives me shivers and I wonder how difficult it must be to live in freezing weather.