There are several attitudes towards Christmas,I love especially the second stanza of the poem, with its description of the wonder of a child at the Christmas tree and the final stanza, perhaps because I am old.
Some of which we may disregard:
The social, the torpid, the patently commercial,
The rowdy (the pubs being open till midnight),
And the childish - which is not that of the child
For whom the candle is a star, and the gilded angel
Spreading its wings at the summit of the tree
Is not only a decoration, but an angel.
The child wonders at the Christmas Tree:
Let him continue in the spirit of wonder
At the Feast as an event not accepted as a pretext;
So that the glittering rapture, the amazement
Of the first-remembered Christmas Tree,
So that the surprises, delight in new possessions
(Each one with its peculiar and exciting smell),
The expectation of the goose or turkey
And the expected awe on its appearance,
So that the reverence and the gaiety
May not be forgotten in later experience,
In the bored habituation, the fatigue, the tedium,
The awareness of death, the consciousness of failure,
Or in the piety of the convert
Which may be tainted with a self-conceit
Displeasing to God and disrespectful to children
(And here I remember also with gratitude
St.Lucy, her carol, and her crown of fire):
So that before the end, the eightieth Christmas
(By "eightieth" meaning whichever is last)
The accumulated memories of annual emotion
May be concentrated into a great joy
Which shall be also a great fear, as on the occasion
When fear came upon every soul:
Because the beginning shall remind us of the end
And the first coming of the second coming.
The illustration at the head of the post shows the "Queen's Christmas tree at Windsor Castle published in the Illustrated London News, 1848, and republished in Godey's Lady's Book, Philadelphia in December 1850." From Wikipedia.
Thanks for posting this, Mimi! Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeletePenny, you're welcome. Merry Christmas to you and those you love.
ReplyDeleteI loved this T S Eliot poem (which I had not heard before).
ReplyDeleteI have just heard this year's carol service from King's College, Cambridge. Synchronicity is alive and well and apparently bridges the Atlantic- the service included your T S Eliot, as well as my U A Fanthorpe!
With best wishes for a very happy Christmas. Meeting you has been the highlight of 2011 for me, and once again I thank you for all your help to get me started in the world of blogging.
Joyeux Noel!
Oh Laura! What a lovely comment. You made my day.
ReplyDeleteSynchronicity is alive and well and apparently bridges the Atlantic....
Indeed! The pleasure was mine to meet you and your gracious husband. I have the fondest of memories of the day, including our long, most enjoyable lunch, which was topped off by the beautiful Evensong service at Salisbury Cathedral with Susan's choir doing the honors.
May you and Robert and those you love have a Blessed and Happy Christmas.
Dear Mam,
ReplyDeleteI've just discovered this poetess and thought you might enjoy her take on the Nativity.
The Wicked Fairy At The Manger
by
U.A. Fanthorpe
My gift for the child:
No wife, kids, home;
No money sense. Unemployable.
Friends, yes. But the wrong sort –
The workshy, women, wimps,
Petty infringers of the law, persons
With notifiable diseases,
Poll tax collectors, tarts;
The bottom rung.
His end?
I think we’ll make it
Public, prolonged, painful.
Right, said the baby. That was roughly
What we had in mind.
Mike, thanks for the fine poem. I like it very much. Lay Anglicana, who comments above, posted another poem by Fanthorpe on her blog. Synchronicity abounds.
ReplyDelete