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The Skater, a holiday reading by Jeff Douglas

The ice, the wilderness, the solitude — all of that is wrapped up in The Skater, a poem by the late Charles G.D. Roberts.

Poem the late Charles G.D. Roberts is about ice, wilderness and solitude

CBC Radio ·
Silhouette of a person, pictured from the shoulders down, ice skating at night, as a purple light reflects on the ice.
The Skater is a poem about gliding along a frozen lake. (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
As It Happens1:40The Skater

The ice, the wilderness, the solitude — all of that is wrapped up in The Skater.

The classic poem by late Canadian poet Charles G.D. Roberts is about a skater gliding across a frozen lake. But, as sometimes happens when you're the first one on the ice, it becomes something more.

From our annual holiday reading series, here's former As It Happens co-host Jeff Douglas' rendition of The Skater.