We are in the midst of the traditional Twelve Days of Christmas and deep cold is descending on north Georgia tonight. The next week could bring us the coldest temperatures in a generation, but the warmth of the season, often contained in beautiful music, will sustain us. Here is In The Bleak Midwinter, a poem by Christina Rosetti set to the music, Cranman, composed by Gustav Holst in 1906. The performance is by the Gloucester Cathedral Choir.
In the bleak midwinter, 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 midwinter, long ago.
Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to rein.
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.
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