A Christmas Carol

Translation of "J'antan Po No Ruë" from the Noei Bourguignon De Gui Barozal

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
Vocal Recordings: MP3 / OGG

Source: William Sandys, Christmas-tide, Its History, Festivities and Carols, With Their Music (London: John Russell Smith, 1852), pp. 290-1.

    I hear along our street
    Pass the minstrel throngs;
    Hark! they play so sweet,
On their hautboys, Christmas Songs!
        Let us by the fire
        Ever higher
Sing them till the night expire!

    In December ring
    Every day the chimes;
    Loud the gleemen sing
In the streets their merry rhymes.
        Let us by the fire
        Ever higher
Sing them till the night expire!

    Shepherds at the grange,
    Where the Babe was born,
    Sang, with many a change,
Christmas carols until morn.
        Let us by the fire
        Ever higher
Sing them till the night expire!

    These good people sang
    Songs devout and sweet;
    While the rafters rang,
There they stood with freezing feet.
        Let us by the fire
        Ever higher
Sing them till the night expire!

    Nuns in frigid cells
    At this holy tide,
    For want of something else,
Christmas songs at times have tried.
        Let us by the fire
        Ever higher
Sing them till the night expire!

    Washerwomen old,
    To the sound they beat,
    Sing by rivers cold,
With uncovered heads and feet.
        Let us by the fire
        Ever higher
Sing them till the night expire!

    Who by the fireside stands
    Stamps his feet and sings;
    But he who blows his hands
Not so gay a carol brings,
        Let us by the fire
        Ever higher
Sing them till the night expire!

William Studwell mentions this poem as the basis for a Christmas carol entitled "When Christ Was Born In Bethlehem" with music by Ebenezer Beesley.

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