A Christmas Carol | In the bleak midwinter | In the bleak mid-winter

by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830 - 1894)

In the bleak mid‑winter

Language: English

Our translations: DUT FRI GER

 In the bleak mid-winter
 Frosty wind made moan;
Earth [stood]¹ hard as iron,
 Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
 [Snow on snow]²,
In the bleak mid-winter
 [Long]³ ago.

[Our God,]² heaven cannot hold Him,
 Nor earth sustain,
[Heaven and earth shall flee away]²
 When He comes to reign:
[In the bleak mid-winter
 A stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty --
 Jesus Christ.]²

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.

Angels and Archangels
 May have gathered there,
Cherubim and Seraphim
 Thronged the air;
But only His Mother
 In her maiden bliss
Worshiped the Beloved
 With a kiss.

What can I give [Him]⁴
 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]² what I can I give Him, --
 Give my heart.

Available sung texts: ← What is this?

• M. Trotta • S. Wilkinson • B. Britten

M. Trotta sets stanzas 1-2, 5
S. Wilkinson sets stanza 1
B. Britten sets stanza 1

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
First published in Scribner's Monthly, January 1872
¹ Trotta: "grew"
² omitted by Trotta.
³ Trotta: "Long, long"
⁴ omitted by Walton?

Text Authorship:

by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830 - 1894), "A Christmas Carol" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Harold Edwin Darke (1888 - 1977), "In the bleak midwinter" [sung text not yet checked]
by Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934), "In the bleak midwinter" [ chorus a cappella ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Leonard J[ordan] Lehrman (b. 1949), "What can I give?", op. 145, first performed 2000 [ 2-part chorus with accompaniment ], canon [sung text not yet checked]
by (Robert) Bruce Montgomery (1921 - 1978), "In the bleak midwinter", published 1948 [ SATB chorus, strings, and piano obbligato ], from Christ's Birthday [sung text not yet checked]
by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "In The Bleak Mid-Winter", op. 667 (1965) [sung text not yet checked]
by Mick Swithinbank (b. 1953), "In the bleak midwinter " [ SSATBB chorus a cappella ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Michael John Trotta (b. 1978), "In the bleak midwinter", published 2010, stanzas 1-2,5 [ SATB chorus, piano, and oboe ], Colla Voce [sung text checked 1 time]
by Stephen Wilkinson (b. 1919), "Winter snow", stanza 1 [ voice and piano ], from Eternal Summer, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]

The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:

by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Variation V: In the bleak mid-winter / Corpus Christi Carol", op. 3 no. 6, rev. 1955, first performed 1934 [ men's chorus, women's chorus, boys' chorus a cappella (organ ad libitum) ], from cantata A Boy was Born, no. 6, Chester Music
- View the full text. [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 40
Word count: 177