Christmas Poetry
Some say that ever
‘gainst that season comes
Wherein our Saviour’s
birth is celebrated,
The bird of dawning
singeth all night long:
And then, they say, no
spirit dares stir abroad;
The nights are
wholesome; then no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor
witch hath power to charm,
So hallowed and so
gracious is the time
(Hamlet: Act 1,
Scene 1)
The lines above are
from the first act of Hamlet, immediately after the soldiers have seen the ghost of Hamlet's father and, I
think, are among the most beautiful of Christmas poetry. We all have our own favourite Christmas poetry
and below is a selection of mine:
The Journey of the Magi (T S Eliot)
Nativity (John Donne)
The Night before Christmas (Clement Clarke Moore)
Advent 1955 (John Betjeman)
The Oxen (Thomas Hardy)
The Yule Log (Robert Herrick)
Christmas 1924 (Thomas Hardy)
A Christmas Carol (Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
A Hymn on the Nativity of my Saviour (Ben Johnson)
In the Workhouse: Christmas
Day
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