by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830 - 1894)

Language: English 
Our translations:  DUT FRI GER
 In the bleak mid-winter
 Frosty wind made moan;
Earth grew hard as iron,
 Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
  ... ,
In the bleak mid-winter
 Long, long ago.

 ...  heaven cannot hold Him,
 Nor earth sustain,
 ... 
 When He comes to reign:
 ... 

 ... 

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,--
 ...  what I can I give Him, --
 Give my heart.
First published in Scribner's Monthly, January 1872

Composition:

    Set to music by Michael John Trotta (b. 1978), "In the bleak midwinter", published 2010, stanzas 1-2,5 [ SATB chorus, piano, and oboe ], Colla Voce

Text Authorship:

See other settings of this text.

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

  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Geart van der Meer) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRI Frisian (Geart van der Meer) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


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