In the Bleak Midwinter

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In the Bleak Midwinter is a poem by the English poet Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894), composed c.1870 and published posthumously in 1904 in The Poetical Works of Christina Georgina Rossetti (Poem #426) under the title "A Christmas Carol".[1] It has been set to music a number of times, most famously by Gustav Holst and Harold Darke.[2]

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. Enough for Him, whom cherubim
Worship night and day,
A breastful of milk
And a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels
Fall down before,
The ox and ass and camel
Which adore.

4. Angels and archangels
May have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim
Thronged the air;
But only His mother
In her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the Beloved
With a kiss.

5. 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.


  1. The Poetical Works of Christina Georgina Rossetti, 1904
  2. "The English Hymnal" 1916, p. 44.
