Christmas in July??

The weather last Thursday was gorgeous: dapple-gray skies and intermittent episodes of chilly rain. Am I morbid to call it 'gorgeous'- no ... rather, and I've maintained this thought since before I can remember, there's a mystical element to this kind of weather that's utterly inviting. The ethereal aroma of wet earth and the vision of florescent greenery draped in an almost imperceptible mist is of so high an aesthetic value to me that I'm willing to call it heaven. Believe me, this is no exaggeration.

That particular day also stirred up within me thoughts of Christmas and her snow-clad months; her red and green colors filled my soul with the excitement of a child on her very Eve; and every classic Christmas song ever sung, every hymn ever written, seemed somehow ever present. In short, last Thursday's weather brought about an intense reflective appreciation for Christmas.

The poem below pertains to that day and the feelings that that day inspired. Hope you enjoy, and have a holly jolly July!


Composed in July of 2010

I hear her Winter voice abroad,
Her Noël and her songs to God,
Ringing in my ear.
And though July is ever dear,
And humid Summer suns are here,
Christmas fills the quad.

She fills me with a jubilee,
With lovely thoughts of Deity,
All throughout the year.
And when her days of Yule are near
I lift the tankard high in cheer:
Blesséd Lord are thee.

-jwm


Of the Poem (Parameters):

Stanza: Sestet
Meter: Lines 1,2,4 and 5 have an eight syllable count; while lines 3 and 6 consists of five
Rhyme Scheme: a.a.b.b.b.a (per stanza)

As a side note, and in the middle of July mind you, I played Christmas music on Pandora all day at work ... it was awesome!

A Hymn for Christmas-Day

In the 1793 edition of Hymns and Sacred Poems, under the title Hymn for Christmas Day, there's a poem that contemporary carolers are most likely very familiar with- or should I say almost familiar with. I refer to that delightful Christmas hymn, Hark! the Herald Angels Sing.

The song as it’s commonly sung today consists of thirty lines divided into three stanzas. However, when Charles Wesley wrote the poem (and make no mistakes- it's a poem) there were twenty additional lines, and every stanza was a quatrain. The original beginning couplet of the poem, which is now a repeating couplet in our contemporary hymn, was also different:

Hark! how all the welkin rings
“Glory to the King of Kings”

The couplet as it exists in its current form was a change initiated by a friend and coworker of Wesley’s, George Whitefield - I have a feeling it may have had something to do with that funny little word, welkin.

A little over a hundred years later Felix Mendelssohn would dedicate a musical piece to Gutenberg’s achievement of the printing press. Meant to be a purely secular piece, the music behind that dedication would later serve as the melody for Wesley’s poem (a beautiful choice made by William Cummings).

Below is Wesley’s poem as it appeared in Hymns and Sacred Poems. I would love to know what others think about the last four stanzas, the ones many hardley know. Enjoy, and have a merry Christmas all.

*******

Hark, how all the welkin rings,
“Glory to the King of kings;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconcil’d!”

Joyful, all ye nations, rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
Universal nature say,
“Christ the Lord is born to-day!”

Christ, by highest Heaven ador’d,
Christ, the everlasting Lord:
Late in time behold him come,
Offspring of a virgin’s womb!

Veil’d in flesh, the Godhead see,
Hail th’ incarnate Deity!
Pleas’d as man with men to appear,
Jesus, our Immanuel here!

Hail, the heavenly Prince of Peace,
Hail, the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
Risen with healing in his wings.

Mild he lays his glory by,
Born that man no more may die;
Born to raise the sons of earth;
Born to give them second birth.

Come, desire of nations, come,
Fix in us thy humble home;
Rise, the woman’s conquering seed,
Bruise in us the serpent’s head.

Now display thy saving power,
Ruin’d nature now restore;
Now in mystic union join
Thine to ours, and ours to thine.

Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface,
Stamp thy image in its place.
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in thy love.

Let us thee, though lost, regain,
Thee, the life, the inner man:
O, to all thyself impart,
Form’d in each believing heart.