Sunday Poetry – Christmas Day

Merry Christmas to everyone who visits I Prefer Reading. I hope you all have a lovely day whether or not you celebrate Christmas & whether you’re having a summer or winter Sunday.

This is the perfect Christmas day carol. Here is King’s College choir & here is Sting, for something completely different!

 I saw three ships come sailing in,
    On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
I saw three ships come sailing in,
    On Christmas day in the morning.

 And what was in those ships all three?
    On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
And what was in those ships all three?
    On Christmas day in the morning.

 Our Saviour Christ and his lady2
    On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
Our Saviour Christ and his lady,
    On Christmas day in the morning.

 Pray whither sailed those ships all three?
    On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
Pray whither sailed those ships all three?
    On Christmas day in the morning.

 Oh, they sailed into Bethlehem,
    On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
Oh, they sailed into Bethlehem,
    On Christmas day in the morning.

 And all the bells on earth shall ring,
    On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
And all the bells on earth shall ring,
    On Christmas day in the morning.

 And all the Angels in Heaven shall sing,
    On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
And all the Angels in Heaven shall sing,
    On Christmas day in the morning.

 And all the souls on earth shall sing,
    On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
And all the souls on earth shall sing,
    On Christmas day in the morning.

 Then let us all rejoice, amain,
    On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
Then let us all rejoice, amain,
    On Christmas day in the morning.

Dickens in December

For me, December means Dickens. This year I have a treat, a new Naxos recording of Dickens’ Christmas stories.These are the stories Dickens published in the 1840s. The first of them was the perennially popular A Christmas Carol.

I’ll be listening to Miriam Margolyes reading the Carol as I have for the last few years. This new recording is of the other four stories – The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Battle of Life & The Haunted Man. Even better, they’re read by David Timson, one of my favourite narrators. I listened to his recording of Dombey & Son last year & it was wonderful. He’s also recorded the complete Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire by Gibbon which I’m nearly halfway through. I haven’t read these later Christmas Stories as often as A Christmas Carol – I can recite whole passages from the Carol – but these later stories have never been as popular. The Carol was a hard act to follow. However, I’m finding a lot to admire & enjoy in them. I think listening is the perfect way to experience them.

I’ve also been catching up on back issues of The Dickensian, watching Ronald Colman (photo from here) in the 1935 movie of A Tale of Two Cities (which made me want to reread the book immediately) & reading this terrific interview with Jenny Hartley where she chooses her top 5 books on Dickens.

Apart from Dickens, I’m also reading this anthology of Christmas stories. A mixture of old favourites & new discoveries. So far I’ve enjoyed rereading The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Necklace of Pearls by Dorothy L Sayers & discovering a very Golden Age story by Val McDermid called A Traditional Christmas. There are also stories by Ian Rankin, Ellis Peters, Ngaio Marsh & Margery Allingham. I bought the Kindle edition for only about $3 but it’s also available in paperback.

I’ve also been tempted by bloggers to buy a couple of Christmassy books, the first books I’ve bought for nearly two months. Elaine’s review of Jeanette Winterson’s Christmas Days was so enticing that I ordered it straightaway.

I was also intrigued by Heavenali’s mention of this anthology of Christmas Stories published by Everyman. I love these chunky little hardback anthologies of short stories. There are several more here that I’m tempted by.

I’ll just finish this ramble with a link to a blog I’ve just discovered. Emily Rhodes works at Daunt Books, organises their very popular Walking Book Club & is a freelance reviewer. She also blogs at EmilyBooks. I’ve been enjoying reading her archive as she is a fan of Persephone Books, Slightly Foxed, Ann Bridge, Penelope Fitzgerald & Elizabeth Von Arnim.

I was going to finish this ramble but Lynne at dovegreyreader has written about the centenary of Penelope Fitzgerald’s birth here & I like her idea of a Persephone January. There, that really is the end.

Monday Poetry – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I know we’ve already had our poem of the week but this poem by Longfellow was the answer to a clue in my crossword on Saturday. I vaguely knew it but hadn’t realised that it was written during the Civil War. It starts out a quite a jolly carol, darkens in the middle & ends hopefully. Poignant & lovely. I also couldn’t resist this gorgeous photograph (from here) of Longfellow taken by Julia Margaret Cameron, one of the most original photographers of the 19th century. He looks like a Welsh bard, doesn’t he?

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
    Their old, familiar carols play,
        And wild and sweet
        The words repeat
    Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

    And thought how, as the day had come,
    The belfries of all Christendom
        Had rolled along
        The unbroken song
    Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

    Till ringing, singing on its way,
    The world revolved from night to day,
        A voice, a chime,
        A chant sublime
    Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

    Then from each black, accursed mouth
    The cannon thundered in the South,
        And with the sound
        The carols drowned
    Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

    It was as if an earthquake rent
    The hearth-stones of a continent,
        And made forlorn
        The households born
    Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

    And in despair I bowed my head;
    “There is no peace on earth,” I said;
        “For hate is strong,
        And mocks the song
    Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”

    Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
    “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
        The Wrong shall fail,
        The Right prevail,
    With peace on earth, good-will to men.”

Sunday Poetry – Christmas

I love this carol, which is spritely & tells the Nativity story briskly & beautifully. The tune is 16th century but the words were written by George Ratcliffe Woodward in 1901. You can hear King’s College Choir singing it here & here are the Rice Philharmonics who, I’ve just discovered are an a cappella group from Rice University in Texas.

Ding-dong, ding:
        Ding-a-dong-a-ding:
        Ding-dong, ding-dong:
        Ding-a-dong-ding.

Up! good Christen folk, and listen
How the merry church bells ring,
And from steeple
Bid good people
Come adore the new-born King:

Tell the story how from glory
God came down at Christmastide,
Bringing gladness,
Chasing sadness,
Show’ring blessings far and wide.

Born of mother, blest o’er other,
Ex Maria Virgine,
In a stable
(‘Tis no fable),
Christus natus hodie.

Sunday Poetry – Christmas

This unusual carol, Jesus Christ the Apple Tree, was written in the 18th century & most famously set to music by Elizabeth Poston in the 20th century. There are several theories about the significance & symbolism of the apple tree in the poem but I’ve just always loved it, especially when sung by a choir (here it’s St John’s college, Cambridge). Those pure young voices just make it seem even more mysterious.

The tree of life my soul hath seen,
Laden with fruit and always green:
The trees of nature fruitless be
Compared with Christ the apple tree.

His beauty doth all things excel:
By faith I know, but ne’er can tell
The glory which I now can see
In Jesus Christ the apple tree.

For happiness I long have sought,
And pleasure dearly I have bought:
I missed of all; but now I see
‘Tis found in Christ the apple tree.

I’m weary with my former toil,
Here I will sit and rest awhile:
Under the shadow I will be,
Of Jesus Christ the apple tree.

This fruit doth make my soul to thrive,
It keeps my dying faith alive;
Which makes my soul in haste to be
With Jesus Christ the apple tree.

Sunday Poetry – Christmas

As December has begun it’s no longer too soon to mention Christmas so I’m going to feature some more of my favourite carols as I did last year. The Holly and the Ivy is one of my favourites, a traditional carol that was published in its best-known version by Cecil Sharp in 1911. Here’s a very traditional performance by  the Westminster Abbey choir & here’s a faster version by the Mediaeval Baebes.

  The holly and the ivy,
    When they are both full grown,
    Of all the trees that are in the wood,
    The holly bears the crown.
    The rising of the sun
    And the running of the deer,
    The playing of the merry organ,
    Sweet singing in the choir.

    The holly bears a blossom,
    As white as the lily flower,
    And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,
    To be our sweet Saviour.
    The rising of the sun, etc.

    The holly bears a berry,
    As red as any blood,
    And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
    For to do us sinners good.
    The rising of the sun, etc.

    The holly bears a prickle,
    As sharp as any thorn,
    And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
    On Christmas Day in the morn.
    The rising of the sun, etc.

    The holly bears a bark,
    As bitter as any gall,
    And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
    For to redeem us all.
    The rising of the sun, etc.

    The holly and the ivy,
    When they are both full grown,
    Of all the trees that are in the wood,
    The holly bears the crown.
    The rising of the sun, etc.