Sarah reads from her anthology of 19th-century poetry, A Christmas Wish: Victorian Winter Poetry for Christmas and New Year's. Get the book on Amazon:
A Christmas Wish
Victorian Winter Poetry for Christmas and New Year's
A Winter Morning
The keen, clear air —the splendid sight--
We waken to a world of ice;
Where all things are enshrined in light,
As by some genie's quaint device.
'Tis Winter's jubilee —this day
His stores their countless treasures yield;
See how the diamond glances play,
In ceaseless blaze, from tree and field.
The cold, bare spot where late we ranged,
The naked woods, are seen no more;
This earth to fairy land is changed,
With glittering silver sheeted o'er.
A shower of gems is strewed around;
The flowers of winter, rich and rare;
Rubies and sapphires deck the ground,
The topaz, emerald, all are there.
The morning Sun, with cloudless rays,
His powerless splendour round us streams;
From crusted boughs, and twinkling sprays,
Fly back unloosed the rainbow beams.
With more than summer beauty fair,
The trees in winter's garb are shown;
What a rich halo melts in air,
Around their crystal branches thrown!
And yesterday! —How changed the view
From what then charmed us; when the sky
Hung, with its dim and watery hue,
O'er all the soft, still prospect nigh.
The distant groves, arrayed in white,
Might then like things unreal seem,
Just shown a while in silvery light,
The fictions of a poet's dream;
Like shadowy groves upon that shore
O'er which Elysium's twilight lay,
By bards and sages feigned of yore,
Ere broke on earth heaven's brighter day.
O God of Nature! With what might
Of beauty, showered on all below,
Thy guiding power would lead aright
Earth's wanderer all Thy love to know!
A Christmas Song
Heap the holly! Wreath the pine!
Train the dainty Christmas vine--
Let the breath of fir and bay
Mingle on this festal day--
Let the cedar fill the air
With its spicy sweetness rare.
Wake the carol —sound the chime--
Welcome! Merry Christmas time.
Bring the fronds of hardy fern--
Let the Christmas berries burn
Mid the sprays of richest green;
Weave the ivy's polished screen;
And the radiant Christmas rose
In gray mistletoe enclose.
Snowy fleece and sparkling rime
Welcome! Merry Christmas time.
From some sunny forest knoll
Bring the Yule log's mighty bole;
Where the pine's weird music make
There the storied Yule tree take.
Spread the board with rare good cheer--
Hail the fête day of the year.
Wake the carol —sound the chime--
Welcome Merry Christmas time.
The Mistletoe
With Christmas cheer the hall is bright,
At friendly feud with winter's cold;
There's many a merry game to-night
For maids and men, the young and old;
And winter sends for their delight
The holly with its crimson glow,
And paler than the glistening snow
The mistletoe, the mistletoe.
The mistletoe! The mistletoe!
The wan and wanton mistletoe!
Chance comer to our festal eyes,
Dear crimson-breasted holly-sprite!
Thee, Robin, too, the hall receives,
Unbidden, whom our hearts invite.
And perched among the crumply leaves,
He cocks his head and sings, Hullo!
The mistletoe, the mistletoe
Hangs up above, but what's below?
Oh! What's below the mistletoe?
The mistletoe, the mistletoe!
A kindly custom sanctions bliss
That's ta'en beneath the wanton bough.
Who laughs so low? Why, here it is!
Look, Jenny, where I have you now!
Dear bashful eyes! Sweet lips —a kiss!
Ah! Cheeks can mock the holly's glow!
For what's below the mistletoe?
Ah! Ha! Why, it is Cupid O!
Ah! Ha! Below the mistletoe
'Tis Cupid O! 'Tis Cupid O!
A Christmas Wish
Had I power to give to you
Many a rich and costly gem,
Fit, in brilliancy of hue,
To adorn a diadem,
I'd bestow the jewels rare
On some other friend less dear,
While for you I'd breathe a prayer,
Such as I do offer here.
Many a merry Christmas, friend,
Health, contentment, joy and bliss;
More delights in thought I send
Than I can convey in this.
With the now departing year
May your cares and sorrows cease;
May the new one, drawing near,
Bring you happiness and peace.
The keen, clear air —the splendid sight--
We waken to a world of ice;
Where all things are enshrined in light,
As by some genie's quaint device.
'Tis Winter's jubilee —this day
His stores their countless treasures yield;
See how the diamond glances play,
In ceaseless blaze, from tree and field.
The cold, bare spot where late we ranged,
The naked woods, are seen no more;
This earth to fairy land is changed,
With glittering silver sheeted o'er.
A shower of gems is strewed around;
The flowers of winter, rich and rare;
Rubies and sapphires deck the ground,
The topaz, emerald, all are there.
The morning Sun, with cloudless rays,
His powerless splendour round us streams;
From crusted boughs, and twinkling sprays,
Fly back unloosed the rainbow beams.
With more than summer beauty fair,
The trees in winter's garb are shown;
What a rich halo melts in air,
Around their crystal branches thrown!
And yesterday! —How changed the view
From what then charmed us; when the sky
Hung, with its dim and watery hue,
O'er all the soft, still prospect nigh.
The distant groves, arrayed in white,
Might then like things unreal seem,
Just shown a while in silvery light,
The fictions of a poet's dream;
Like shadowy groves upon that shore
O'er which Elysium's twilight lay,
By bards and sages feigned of yore,
Ere broke on earth heaven's brighter day.
O God of Nature! With what might
Of beauty, showered on all below,
Thy guiding power would lead aright
Earth's wanderer all Thy love to know!
A Christmas Song
Heap the holly! Wreath the pine!
Train the dainty Christmas vine--
Let the breath of fir and bay
Mingle on this festal day--
Let the cedar fill the air
With its spicy sweetness rare.
Wake the carol —sound the chime--
Welcome! Merry Christmas time.
Bring the fronds of hardy fern--
Let the Christmas berries burn
Mid the sprays of richest green;
Weave the ivy's polished screen;
And the radiant Christmas rose
In gray mistletoe enclose.
Snowy fleece and sparkling rime
Welcome! Merry Christmas time.
From some sunny forest knoll
Bring the Yule log's mighty bole;
Where the pine's weird music make
There the storied Yule tree take.
Spread the board with rare good cheer--
Hail the fête day of the year.
Wake the carol —sound the chime--
Welcome Merry Christmas time.
The Mistletoe
With Christmas cheer the hall is bright,
At friendly feud with winter's cold;
There's many a merry game to-night
For maids and men, the young and old;
And winter sends for their delight
The holly with its crimson glow,
And paler than the glistening snow
The mistletoe, the mistletoe.
The mistletoe! The mistletoe!
The wan and wanton mistletoe!
Chance comer to our festal eyes,
Dear crimson-breasted holly-sprite!
Thee, Robin, too, the hall receives,
Unbidden, whom our hearts invite.
And perched among the crumply leaves,
He cocks his head and sings, Hullo!
The mistletoe, the mistletoe
Hangs up above, but what's below?
Oh! What's below the mistletoe?
The mistletoe, the mistletoe!
A kindly custom sanctions bliss
That's ta'en beneath the wanton bough.
Who laughs so low? Why, here it is!
Look, Jenny, where I have you now!
Dear bashful eyes! Sweet lips —a kiss!
Ah! Cheeks can mock the holly's glow!
For what's below the mistletoe?
Ah! Ha! Why, it is Cupid O!
Ah! Ha! Below the mistletoe
'Tis Cupid O! 'Tis Cupid O!
A Christmas Wish
Had I power to give to you
Many a rich and costly gem,
Fit, in brilliancy of hue,
To adorn a diadem,
I'd bestow the jewels rare
On some other friend less dear,
While for you I'd breathe a prayer,
Such as I do offer here.
Many a merry Christmas, friend,
Health, contentment, joy and bliss;
More delights in thought I send
Than I can convey in this.
With the now departing year
May your cares and sorrows cease;
May the new one, drawing near,
Bring you happiness and peace.
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