The Christmas of 1888

John Greenleaf Whittier

Low in the east, against a white, cold dawn,
The black-lined silhouette of the woods was drawn,
  And on a wintry waste
Of frosted streams and hillsides bare and brown,
Through thin cloud-films a pallid ghost looked down,
  The waning moon half-faced.

In that pale sky and sere, snow-waiting earth,
What sign was there of the immortal birth?
  What herald of the One?
Lo! swift as thought the heavenly radiance came,
A rose-red splendor swept the sky like flame,
  Up rolled the round, bright sun!

And all was changed. From a transfigured world
The moon's ghost fled, the smoke of home-hearths curled
  Up to the still air unblown.
In Orient warmth and brightness, did that morn
O'er Nain and Nazereth, when the Christ was born,
  Break fairer than our own?

The morning's promise noon and eve fulfilled
In warm, soft sky and landscape hazy-filled
  And sunset fair as they;
A sweet reminder of His holiest time,
A summer-miracle in our winter clime,
  God gave a perfect day.

The near was blended with the old and far,
And Bethlehem's hillside and the Magi's star
  Seemed here, as there and then, --
Our homestead pine-tree was the Syrian palm,
Our heart's desire the angels' midnight psalm,
  Peace, and good-will to men!  

Editor's Note: I was looking for an obscure Christmas hymn one evening when I came across this lovely poem.  I don't normally publish poems on this site, but I liked this one.

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