It is almost here, and so I want to wish all my readers a merry Christmas, and share with you all one of my favorite Christmas hymns (complete with words to a seldom published third verse).
In the Bleak Midwinter
Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894), 1872;
appeared posthumously in
The Poetical Works of Christina Georgina Rossetti, Poem #426, 1904.
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 His mother only 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.
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