Charles Dickens on Christmas

There are many Christmas poems, and I'm always on the lookout for new ones. What I really like, though, are poems that reach out beyond the obvious Christian message to something more universal.

 I would love to hear about your favorite Christmas Poems!

The popular Carol “I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day” comes from a poem “Christmas Bells” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 – 1882). Written in 1863 during the heart of the Civil War, it reflects world turmoil similar to what we all might feel today. Omitting three dark stanzas about the Civil war, it goes:

 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!

…

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.”

This is still a little sappy for me, depending again on the mighty hand of God to make everything right again. My current favorite Christmas "poem" is actually a poetic section from a Charles Dickens essay, What Christmas Is As We Grow Older.

                                  Welcome, everything!

                             Welcome, alike what has been,

                                   and what never was,

                               and what we hope may be,

                         to your shelter underneath the holly,

                       to your places round the Christmas fire,

                           where what is sits open-hearted! 

And here is a link to the complete essay. Enjoy!

What Christmas Is as We Grow Older; Charles Dickens

Best Christmas Ever (in response to a writing prompt)

Best Christmas Ever 

                        Like asking which of your children you love the most

There was the first Christmas

when I was the prince

unknowing head of the grand-kids brigade

There was Christmas in Maine

warm house         a turkey

a small model train

There was grandparents Christmas

loving old man         silvery woman

polished wood floors        light in the windows

There was growing boys Christmas

with pairs of real skis

endless days in the snow for my brother and I

There were years of dark Christmas

not too many I guess

sitting in quiet and counting the losses

There were Christmases      children

my wife’s loving tree

home-made decorations placed to cement

our hearts to our family

to ancient ancestors 

to dim winter evenings

to bonding of campfires

after a low-passing

sun has gone down

now Christmas is lights

strung up on the houses

ornaments carefully tended and hung

and after all of the parties have passed

along with the crowded living room mornings

Christmas comes as it will            year after year

and rests on our shoulders     a dusting of snow

© Frank Kearns 2016