Christmas Poems
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"A Christmas Carol," by G.K. Chesterton.

A Christmas Carol

The Christ-child lay on Mary's lap,
    His hair was like a light.
(O weary, weary were the world,
    But here is all aright.)

The Christ-child lay on Mary's breast,
    His hair was like a star.
(O stern and cunning are the kings,
    But here the true hearts are.)

The Christ-child lay on Mary's heart,
    His hair was like a fire.
(O weary, weary is the world,
    But here the world's desire.)

The Christ-child stood at Mary's knee,
    His hair was like a crown,
And all the flowers looked up at him,
    And all the stars looked down.


The Meeting," by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

The Meeting

After so long an absence
      At last we meet again:
Does the meeting give us pleasure,
      Or does it give us pain?

The tree of life has been shaken,
      And but few of us linger now,
Like the Prophet's two or three berries
      In the top of the uttermost bough.

We cordially greet each other
      In the old, familiar tone;
And we think, though we do not say it,
      How old and gray he is grown!

We speak of a Merry Christmas
      And many a Happy New Year
But each in his heart is thinking
      Of those that are not here.

We speak of friends and their fortunes,
      And of what they did and said,
Till the dead alone seem living,
      And the living alone seem dead.

And at last we hardly distinguish
      Between the ghosts and the guests;
And a mist and shadow of sadness
      Steals over our merriest jests.


"The Oxen," by Thomas Hardy.

The Oxen

Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock.
   'Now they are all on their knees,'
An elder said as we sat in a flock
   By the embers in hearthside ease.

We pictured the meek mild creatures where
   They dwelt in their strawy pen,
Nor did it occur to one of us there
   To doubt they were kneeling then.

So fair a fancy few would weave
   In these years! Yet, I feel,
If someone said on Christmas Eve,
   'Come; see the oxen kneel

In lonely barton by yonder coomb
   Our childhood used to know,'
I should go with him in the gloom,
   Hoping it might be so.


"Welcoming Angels," by Pat Schneider from Long Way Home (© Amherst Writers and Artists Press).

Welcoming Angels

Between the last war
and the next one,
waiting for the northbound train
that travels by the river,
I sit alone in the middle of the night
and welcome angels.
Welcome back old hymns, old songs,
all the music, the rhyme and rhythm,
welcome angels, archangels,
welcome early guesses
at the names of things,
welcome wings.

I have grown tired of disbelief.
What once was brave is boring.
Welcome back to my embrace stranger,
visitor beside the Jabbok.
Welcome wrestling until dawn,
until it is my hip thrown out of joint,
my pillow stone, my ladder
of antique assumptions.
Welcome what is not my own;
glory on the top rung, coming down.


"The Gift," by William Carlos Williams, from The Collected Poems of William Carlos Williams Volume II 1939-1962 (© New Directions).

The Gift

As the wise men of old brought gifts
   guided by a star
      to the humble birthplace

of the god of love,
   the devils
      as an old print shows
retreated in confusion.

   What could a baby know
      of gold ornaments
or frankincense and myrrh,
   of priestly robes
      and devout genuflections?

But the imagination
   knows all stories
      before they are told
and knows the truth of this one
   past all defection

The rich gifts
   so unsuitable for a child
      though devoutly proffered,
stood for all that love can bring.

   The men were old
      how could they know
of a mother's needs
   or a child's
      appetite?

But as they kneeled
   the child was fed.

      They saw it
and
   gave praise!

      A miracle
had taken place,
   hard gold to love,
a mother's milk!
   before
      their wondering eyes.

The ass brayed
   the cattle lowed.
      It was their nature.

All men by their nature give praise.
   It is all
      they can do.

The very devils
   by their flight give praise.
      What is death,
beside this?

   Nothing. The wise men
      came with gifts
and bowed down
   to worship
      this perfection.



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