I divide without cutting Stop the light and the wind You must climb or destroy me There’s no other way in.

Japanese warriors carried it around Gentlemen do so too Made from wood or metal And it's used when you settle

I arrive after bells and vanishing snow, Dressed in greens that the cold won’t know. They toast my coming with lights and cheer, Yet I belong to a quieter year. You’ll seek me in holly, hearth, and ring, But I’m not a holiday

Echoes of a quartet, multiplied force, a leap from pair to foursome, fourfold strength in a single course.

Slayer of regrets, old and new, sought by many, found by few. What am I?