Saturday Rave: In The Bleak Midwinter by Christina Rossetti

This poem is beautiful, short, and mostly easy to understand.

In The Bleak Midwinter sets a scene. It makes a point. It asks a question. It answers it.

Just in the same way that you don't have to believe that Cinderella was a historical person to enjoy her adventures, you don't have to believe in the setting of Christina Rossetti's story to enjoy her poem.

It's been set to music many times. The best known setting is by Gustav Holst, but this is the version by Harold Darke, written when he was a student at the Royal College of Music.

 

Word To Use Today: bleak. This word comes from the Old English blāc, pale, and is related to the Old Norse bleikr, white.