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.