Wednesday, December 2, 2009

What can I give Him, poor as I am?




In the bleak midwinter, frost wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, 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 midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

~
Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshiped 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 Rossetti, 1872

Brad and I read some of her poetry in Literature this year, and I really like her writing. :)

1 comment:

robert said...

Thanks for posting Christian Rossetti's beautiful carol. She wrote a couple of others too: "Love Came Down at Christmas," and "The Shepherd's Had an Angel." Today is the 179th anniversary of her birth.

If you enjoy reading about the history of our traditional hymns, I invite you to check out my daily blog on the subject, Wordwise Hymns