In the bleak midwinter

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General information

Lyricist: Christina Rossetti

A poem by Christina Rossetti which has been set to music famously by Harold Darke and Gustav Holst and also by other composers.

Settings by composers

  • Bob Chilcott (still under copyright)
  • Harold Darke (omits verse 4)
  • Gustav Holst
  • Thomas B. Strong (no edition on CPDL yet)
  • Mick Swithinbank
  • Eric Thiman (still under copyright)
  • Robert C. L. Watson (still under copyright)

Other settings possibly not included in the manual list above

Text and translations

English.png English text

1.
In the bleak midwinter frosty winds 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.

2.
Our God, Heav'n cannot hold him nor earth sustain;
Heav'n and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign:
In the bleak midwinter astable place sufficed.
The Lord God Almighty Jesus Christ.

3.
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.

4.
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.

5.
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.

External links