It hardly ever snows in the Holy Land, but you wouldn’t know it by the lyrics of the Christmas Carol “In the Bleak Midwinter,” written by the highly esteemed poet Christina Rossetti (1830-1894). She was asked by the editor of Scribner’s Monthly to submit a poem for inclusion in the literary periodical’s January 1872 issue. She gave it an inauspicious title, “A Christmas Poem” that was changed thirty-four years later to its current title in hymn form.
Christina’s poem is hardly a commentary on weather in Israel. Snow functions as a literary motif to juxtapose the barren, wintry conditions of humanity with the warmth of the Messiah’s birth. Christ’s arrival in the bleak midwinter when “earth stood hard as iron” alludes to the hardness of human hearts. The poem’s middle stanzas move back and forth between Christ’s divinity and humanity. The last stanza packs a punch. Shepherds can bring lambs, and wise men can give expensive gifts yet “what can I give him, poor as I am?” She answers her own introspective question with the simple words, “Give my heart.”
The somber mood of the carol correlates to Christina’s real life. She struggled with chronic health issues and recurring bouts with depression. She received three marriage proposals yet turned them all down for various reasons. One suitor was described as a “sleepyhead” while another offended her anti-slavery sentiments. Her poems often contrast the inconstancy of human love and vanity of earthly pleasures with God’s enduring love.
The following prayer by Christina invites us to give our hearts to Christ: