In the Bleak Midwinter – A Christmas Carol by Christina Rossetti
Christina Rossetti was an English poet who wrote a variety of romantic, devotional and children’s poems – best known for her works Goblin Market, Remember, and the Christmas carol, In the Bleak Midwinter. In honour of her birthday, we’d love to share her Christmas carol, In the Bleak Midwinter with you. It was first published under the title A Christmas Carol, in the January 1872 issue of Scribner’s Monthly. It was adapted and set to music by Gustav Holst in 1906, and has since gone on to become one of the classic Christmas hymns.
In the Bleak Midwinter
– By Christina Rossetti –
IN the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
Long ago.
Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him
Nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away
When He comes to reign:
In the bleak mid-winter
A stable-place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty
Jesus Christ.
Enough for Him, whom cherubim
Worship night and day,
A breastful of milk
And a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels
Fall down before,
The ox and ass and camel
Which adore.
Angels and archangels
May have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim
Thronged the air;
But only His mother
In her maiden bliss
Worshipped the Beloved
With a kiss.
What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb,
If I were a Wise Man
I would do my part,—
Yet what I can I give Him,
Give my heart.
– Christina Rossetti
“Art thou warm, maiden? Art thou warm, pretty one? Art thou warm, my darling?” From the story Frost, from the Allies Fairy Book – illustrated by Arthur Rackham.
Rainbow Gold – Poems Old and New Selected for Boys and Girls – Illustrated by Dugald Stewart Walker
Sara Teasdale’s wonderful collection of children’s poetry, Rainbow Gold – Poems Old and New, was originally published in 1922. Exquisitely illustrated by the accomplished children’s illustrator Dugald Stewart Walker, this charming volume is ideal for introducing children to poetry and is not to be missed by collectors.
