{"id":127,"date":"2011-12-17T10:55:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-17T10:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/2011\/12\/in-the-bleak-midwinter\/"},"modified":"2017-03-09T17:34:11","modified_gmt":"2017-03-09T22:34:11","slug":"in-the-bleak-midwinter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/2011\/12\/in-the-bleak-midwinter.html","title":{"rendered":"In The Bleak Midwinter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
<\/a><\/div>\n

The other day my sister-in-law and I were discussing how much we love the song In the Bleak Midwinter<\/i>. It is one of my favorite Christmas songs, and I actually had never heard it until Melanie linked to it last year. \u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

I spent most of last Christmas season singing the only lines I could remember from the song (In the bleak midwinter\/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 midwinter\/long ago.)<\/p>\n

But by the time this year rolled around, I had nearly forgotten about this song. When I heard it in passing somewhere, I suddenly remembered how much I adored it and thought, \u201cI should write a blog post about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

So that\u2019s what I\u2019m doing. And actually, because I love Christmas music so much, I\u2019ve decided to do a series of posts on my favorite Christmas songs. Ideally they would be in ascending order, with #1 being my all-time favorite, but because I only know what my all-time favorite is and have never actually sat down and ranked the rest, I\u2019m just going to do them randomly. Until the last one. Which shall be the best Christmas song ever written, ever. And I do mean ever.<\/p>\n

Anyway. In the Bleak Midwinter was originally a poem by Christina Rosetti. I do love Christina Rosetti very much. I have loved her poems ever since my favorite cousin, in a fit of college literature-love, breathlessly read \u201cThe Goblin Market<\/a>\u201d to my eleven-year-old self. That poem made a deep impression on me. Up until then, my exposure to poetry was mostly in the form of those wretched \u201cPoems for Young Children\u201d picture books and Shel Silverstein (who is not wretched at all). Real, beautiful, melodic, stirring, mysterious and glorious poetry hadn\u2019t been on my radar until my cousin read me that poem. That was pretty much it for me. I became enthralled with poetry fairly quickly. It didn\u2019t take me long to move from Rosetti to Yeats to Shakespeare. It took me much, much longer and many college classes to develop an appreciation for modern poetry, which I now prefer. But still. This poem is lovely. You can\u2019t set \u201cThe Waste-Land\u201d to music the way you can with poetry like this.<\/p>\n

There are actually two versions of this song. I much prefer the one below, but here is a link to the other one<\/a> in case you want to compare the two. I think Darke\u2019s version is quite lovely but does not carry the emotional impact that Holst\u2019s does. That\u2019s my totally uneducated opinion, at least. Music is not something I\u2019ve been educated in at all, really. I can only say what I like and what I dislike.<\/p>\n

What do you think?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The other day my sister-in-law and I were discussing how much we love the song In the Bleak Midwinter. It is one of my favorite Christmas songs, and I actually had never heard it until Melanie linked to it last year. \u00a0 I spent most of last Christmas season singing the only lines I could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1110,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nIn The Bleak Midwinter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The other day my sister-in-law and I were discussing how much we love the song In the Bleak Midwinter. It is one of my favorite Christmas songs, and I\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/2011\/12\/in-the-bleak-midwinter.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In The Bleak Midwinter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The other day my sister-in-law and I were discussing how much we love the song In the Bleak Midwinter. It is one of my favorite Christmas songs, and I\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/2011\/12\/in-the-bleak-midwinter.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Barefoot and Pregnant\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-12-17T10:55:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-03-09T22:34:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-_Cy2EAL6wJM\/TuzlfMycxVI\/AAAAAAAABA4\/rRsSa2Cwkcg\/s320\/images.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Calah Alexander\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Calah Alexander\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/2011\/12\/in-the-bleak-midwinter.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/2011\/12\/in-the-bleak-midwinter.html\",\"name\":\"In The Bleak Midwinter\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-12-17T10:55:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-03-09T22:34:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/#\/schema\/person\/cbd5af11d9f73881b801bf2e07eb8757\"},\"description\":\"The other day my sister-in-law and I were discussing how much we love the song In the Bleak Midwinter. It is one of my favorite Christmas songs, and I\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/2011\/12\/in-the-bleak-midwinter.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/2011\/12\/in-the-bleak-midwinter.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/2011\/12\/in-the-bleak-midwinter.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"In The Bleak Midwinter\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/\",\"name\":\"Barefoot and Pregnant\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/#\/schema\/person\/cbd5af11d9f73881b801bf2e07eb8757\",\"name\":\"Calah Alexander\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cf23055e0549e8c78beb5077e949befd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cf23055e0549e8c78beb5077e949befd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Calah Alexander\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/author\/calahalexander\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"In The Bleak Midwinter","description":"The other day my sister-in-law and I were discussing how much we love the song In the Bleak Midwinter. It is one of my favorite Christmas songs, and I","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/2011\/12\/in-the-bleak-midwinter.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"In The Bleak Midwinter","og_description":"The other day my sister-in-law and I were discussing how much we love the song In the Bleak Midwinter. It is one of my favorite Christmas songs, and I","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/2011\/12\/in-the-bleak-midwinter.html","og_site_name":"Barefoot and Pregnant","article_published_time":"2011-12-17T10:55:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-03-09T22:34:11+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-_Cy2EAL6wJM\/TuzlfMycxVI\/AAAAAAAABA4\/rRsSa2Cwkcg\/s320\/images.jpeg"}],"author":"Calah Alexander","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Calah Alexander","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/2011\/12\/in-the-bleak-midwinter.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/2011\/12\/in-the-bleak-midwinter.html","name":"In The Bleak Midwinter","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-12-17T10:55:00+00:00","dateModified":"2017-03-09T22:34:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/#\/schema\/person\/cbd5af11d9f73881b801bf2e07eb8757"},"description":"The other day my sister-in-law and I were discussing how much we love the song In the Bleak Midwinter. It is one of my favorite Christmas songs, and I","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/2011\/12\/in-the-bleak-midwinter.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/2011\/12\/in-the-bleak-midwinter.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/2011\/12\/in-the-bleak-midwinter.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"In The Bleak Midwinter"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/","name":"Barefoot and Pregnant","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/#\/schema\/person\/cbd5af11d9f73881b801bf2e07eb8757","name":"Calah Alexander","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cf23055e0549e8c78beb5077e949befd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cf23055e0549e8c78beb5077e949befd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Calah Alexander"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/author\/calahalexander"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1110"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}