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

  • 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