A Christmas Carol by Christina Rossetti
Christina Rossetti is one of a very few popular female poets of the nineteenth century. Her poem and the classic story from Charles Dickens share not only a title, but also a reverence for Christmas and the spirit that surrounds it. The last stanza of this poem is often published alone under the title “My Gift.” Whether excerpted or whole, the poem reminds us that it is the desire to give, and not the gift itself, that is the essence of the Christmas spirit.
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.
The Victorian poet Christina Rossetti (1830–1894) was born in London into an Italian family that was deeply involved in the arts, including writing. She published her first poems at the age of twelve. Her work is often religious in nature, but also deals with fantasy and fairy tales.
