{"id":80607,"date":"2019-12-01T13:58:11","date_gmt":"2019-12-01T20:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=80607"},"modified":"2019-12-01T13:58:11","modified_gmt":"2019-12-01T20:58:11","slug":"the-annual-sic-et-non-christmas-carol-improvement-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/12\/the-annual-sic-et-non-christmas-carol-improvement-project.html","title":{"rendered":"The Annual “Sic et Non” Christmas Carol Improvement Project"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Star over Bethlehem, from the Christmas 1898 cover of Harper\u2019s Magazine
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image )<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tabernacle Choir \u2014 \u201cIn the Bleak Midwinter\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of my very favorite Christmas carols is a setting by Gustav Holst of \u201cIn the bleak midwinter.\u201d \u00a0The poem that became the basis of the carol\u2019s lyrics was written by the prominent English poet Christina Rossetti (1830-1894), sister of the poet and artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882):<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,<\/span><\/div>\n
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;<\/span><\/div>\n
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,<\/span><\/div>\n
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;<\/span><\/div>\n
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.<\/span><\/div>\n
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed<\/span><\/div>\n
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day,<\/span><\/div>\n
Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;<\/span><\/div>\n
Enough for Him, whom angels fall before,<\/span><\/div>\n
The ox and ass and camel which adore.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Angels and archangels may have gathered there,<\/span><\/div>\n
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;<\/span><\/div>\n
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,<\/span><\/div>\n
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
What can I give Him, poor as I am?<\/span><\/div>\n
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;<\/span><\/div>\n
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;<\/span><\/div>\n
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.<\/span><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I love the poem. \u00a0Christina Rossetti was a fine poet. \u00a0But there is, in my view, a weakness in the last stanza, and it has always bothered me.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The best poetry, in my judgment, works powerfully with very concrete things, using metaphor to make broader points. \u00a0To the extent that it waxes abstract, distancing itself from the concrete and specific, it loses much of its impact. \u00a0So consider that last stanza:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

What can I give Him, poor as I am?<\/span><\/div>\n
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;<\/span><\/div>\n
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;<\/span><\/div>\n
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.<\/span><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the third line that bothers me. \u00a0Lambs are concrete and specific. \u00a0So, in a sense, are hearts. \u00a0But \u201cIf I were a Wise Man, I would do my part\u201d? \u00a0That\u2019s very vague and quite unsatisfactory. \u00a0Disappointing. \u00a0Ms. Rossetti\u2019s poetic gift failed her just a bit at that point.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Accordingly, I invite everybody out there to consider ways in which to improve the third line. \u00a0The trouble is \u2014 fortunately or unfortunately \u2014 that lines one, two, and four are really quite acceptable. \u00a0So, ideally, the \u201cfix\u201d to line three has to involve a word that rhymes with heart<\/em> and part<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I myself have thought of no satisfactory solution yet. \u00a0So I can\u2019t really fault Christina Rossetti.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Your prize, should you come up with a good replacement for the third line of the final stanza of \u201cIn the Bleak Midwinter,\u201d might potentially go beyond the personal satisfaction that you will receive: \u00a0You could possibly attain at least passing seasonal fame across the English-speaking world.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Posted from Bountiful, Utah<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 Tabernacle Choir \u2014 \u201cIn the Bleak Midwinter\u201d \u00a0 One of my very favorite Christmas carols is a setting by Gustav Holst of \u201cIn the bleak midwinter.\u201d \u00a0The poem that became the basis of the carol\u2019s lyrics was written by the prominent English poet Christina Rossetti (1830-1894), sister of the poet and artist Dante […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Annual "Sic et Non" Christmas Carol Improvement Project<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    Tabernacle Choir -- "In the Bleak Midwinter"   One of my very favorite Christmas carols is a setting by Gustav Holst of "In the bleak\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, 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