A Christmas Carol

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 Georgina Rossetti
(1830-1894)
English poet. Her collections of verse include Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), The Prince's Progress and Other Poems (1866) and A Pageant and Other Poems (1881), and 'A Birthday', 'Remember', 'Uphill' and the Christmas carol 'In the Bleak Mid-Winter'. She also wrote Sing-song, a Nursery Rhyme Book (1862) for children, which was illustrated by Arthur Hughes.

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