Throughout the holiday season, Christmas carols echo through
halls and malls and even our own heads. Perhaps we find ourselves humming or
singing a traditional tune, while hardly paying attention.
With the celebrated birthday of Christ approaching quickly,
I have begun pondering a few of those songs we often repeat from rote. Can you
figure out which familiar carol this poem echoes?
Midwinter Miracles
In the austere interval of iciness,
Bitter blasts moaned.
The planet froze like iron,
All hydration was solid as a rock.
Flurries piled, higher and higher,
Higher and higher still.
In the austere interval of iciness,
Past our most distant of memories.
Almighty One, the eternal Kingdom
Is unable to contain the King,
And Creation may not last.
All that is may vanish
At His appearing.
In the austere interval of iciness,
A dirty animal stall fit the bill
For the coming of the Holy One,
Immanuel, Prince of Peace.
Heavenly agents, high and low,
Assembled in His presence.
Winged wonders, waiting for Him,
Filled the firmament.
Still, His sweet young parent
Yet unmarred by cynicism or sin’s scornfulness,
Adored her holy Infant,
In motherly tenderness.
How can I present a worthy gift
For such a wonder?
I have nothing to offer.
Would that I kept flocks,
That I might present a spotless animal.
Or, may I be a respected sage,
So I could offer gems of wisdom?
Instead, I have little to share
With the miracle Child,
Except my dearest devotion.
c2012 by Linda Ann Nickerson
This adaptation is inspired by a poem, penned by one of my
all-time favorite poetesses, Christina Rossetti (1830-1894). Composer Gustav
Holst (1874-1934) set Rossetti’s words
to music, and “In the Bleak Midwinter” became a treasured Christmas hymn.
Take a listen.
Many musicians have performed or recorded “In The Bleak Midwinter.” Here’s a version I like – from The Moody Blues. Somehow that feels
fitting, as days darken and winter begins. And yet, the Child of Christmas
brings us bright hope.
.
.
And here are Rossetti’s
own lines:
1. In the bleak
midwinter, 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 midwinter, long ago.
2. Our God,
heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain;
heaven and
earth shall flee away when he comes to reign.
In the
bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
the Lord God
Almighty, Jesus Christ.
3. Angels and
archangels may have gathered there,
cherubim
and seraphim thronged the air;
but his
mother only, in her maiden bliss,
worshiped
the beloved with a kiss.
4. 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.
Vintage Advent Calendar
Public Domain/Copyright
Expired
NOTE: Thanks to
Mike Miller, whose ongoing series of Christmas Carol
Conundrums set me to thinking, which led to this poetic post. Check
out his carol series, and see how many twisted titles you can recognize.
Don't miss:
20 Holiday Music Video Favorites: Merry Christmas Carol Countdown
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