Christina Rossetti: Selected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

In the Bleak Midwinter

Christina Rossetti

Winter imagery gives way to a small, personal gift in this five-stanza Christmas poem.

Christina Rossetti: Selected Lyrics Text 1 1904 · historical text
Public domainWinterGivingQuietTender
Complete public-domain lyrics

Wikisource identifies this text with the 1904 collected edition under the title A Christmas Carol. Only Rossetti’s words are reproduced, not a musical arrangement.

Verse 1

In the bleak mid-winter

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 mid-winter

Long ago.

Verse 2

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him

Nor earth sustain;

Heaven and earth shall flee away

When He comes to reign:

In the bleak mid-winter

A stable-place sufficed

The Lord God Almighty,

Jesus Christ.

Verse 3

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.

Verse 4

Angels and archangels

May have gathered there,

Cherubim and seraphim

Thronged the air;

But only His mother

In her maiden bliss,

Worshipped the Beloved

With a kiss.

Verse 5

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,

Yet what I can I give Him,

Give my heart.

Credits

Written by Christina Rossetti

Historical words by Christina Rossetti. Public-domain text; no claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

A Christmas Carol, text attributed to the 1904 Poetical Works

The historical text is published before 1931 and its credited author died more than 100 years ago. See the source's copyright statement; later editions, translations and recordings may have separate rights.

Read the source on Wikisource

View copyright evidence · Transcription terms (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Retrieved 2026-09-07. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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