Our American Holidays - Christmas/A Christmas Carol (Rossetti)

by Christina Georgina Rossetti

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

CHRISTINA G. ROSSETTI

In the bleak mid-winter
     Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
     Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
     Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
     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 mid-winter
     A stable-place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty,
     Jesus Christ.

Angels and archangels
     May have gathered there;
Cherubim and seraphim
     Thronged the air.
But only His Mother,
     In her maiden bliss,
Worshipped her 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.