In his poem “Winter-Time,” Robert Louis Stevenson shares his vision of a wintry landscape:

     Black are my steps on silver sod;
     Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;
     And tree and house, and hill and lake,
     Are frosted like a wedding-cake.

As the first day of winter approaches this weekend, family and friends are joining together for their holiday celebrations. As you engage in holiday traditions, both old and new, read and share these festive verses from Wallace Stevens, William Carlos Williams, Emily Dickinson, Emma Lazarus, Robert Frost, and more. No matter what this season brings for you—whether it’s snow, presents, prayer and reflection, quality time with your loved ones, or any number of holiday hijinks—end this year with poetry and a special season’s greeting from the Academy of American Poets.