Analysis of Christmas
John Clare 1793 (Helpston) – 1864 (St Andrew's Hospital)
Christmas is come and every hearth
Makes room to give him welcome now
E'en want will dry its tears in mirth
And crown him wi' a holly bough
Tho tramping 'neath a winters sky
O'er snow track paths and rhymey stiles
The huswife sets her spining bye
And bids him welcome wi' her smiles
Each house is swept the day before
And windows stuck wi' evergreens
The snow is beesom'd from the door
And comfort crowns the cottage scenes
Gilt holly wi' its thorny pricks
And yew and box wi' berrys small
These deck the unus'd candlesticks
And pictures hanging by the wall
Neighbours resume their anual cheer
Wishing wi smiles and spirits high
Clad christmass and a happy year
To every morning passer bye
Milk maids their christmass journeys go
Accompanyd wi favourd swain
And childern pace the crumping snow
To taste their grannys cake again
Hung wi the ivys veining bough
The ash trees round the cottage farm
Are often stript of branches now
The cotters christmass hearth to warm
He swings and twists his hazel band
And lops them off wi sharpend hook
And oft brings ivy in his hand
To decorate the chimney nook
Old winter whipes his ides bye
And warms his fingers till he smiles
Where cottage hearths are blazing high
And labour resteth from his toils
Wi merry mirth beguiling care
Old customs keeping wi the day
Friends meet their christmass cheer to share
And pass it in a harmless way
Old customs O I love the sound
However simple they may be
What ere wi time has sanction found
Is welcome and is dear to me
Pride grows above simplicity
And spurns it from her haughty mind
And soon the poets song will be
The only refuge they can find
The shepherd now no more afraid
Since custom doth the chance bestow
Starts up to kiss the giggling maid
Beneath the branch of mizzletoe
That neath each cottage beam is seen
Wi pearl-like-berrys shining gay
The shadow still of what hath been
Which fashion yearly fades away
And singers too a merry throng
At early morn wi simple skill
Yet imitate the angels song
And chant their christmass ditty still
And mid the storm that dies and swells
By fits-in humings softly steals
The music of the village bells
Ringing round their merry peals
And when its past a merry crew
Bedeckt in masks and ribbons gay
The 'Morrice danse' their sports renew
And act their winter evening play
The clown-turnd-kings for penny praise
Storm wi the actors strut and swell
And harlequin a laugh to raise
Wears his hump back and tinkling bell
And oft for pence and spicy ale
Wi winter nosgays pind before
The wassail singer tells her tale
And drawls her christmass carrols oer
The prentice boy wi ruddy face
And ryhme bepowderd dancing locks
From door to door wi happy pace
Runs round to claim his 'christmass box'
The block behind the fire is put
To sanction customs old desires
And many a faggots bands are cut
For the old farmers christmass fires
Where loud tongd gladness joins the throng
And winter meets the warmth of may
Feeling by times the heat too strong
And rubs his shins and draws away
While snows the window panes bedim
The fire curls up a sunny charm
Where creaming oer the pitchers rim
The flowering ale is set to warm
Mirth full of joy as summer bees
Sits there its pleasures to impart
While childern tween their parents knees
Sing scraps of carrols oer by heart
And some to view the winter weathers
Climb up the window seat wi glee
Likening the snow to falling feathers
In fancys infant extacy
Laughing wi superstitious love
Oer visions wild that youth supplyes
Of people pulling geese above
And keeping christmass in the skyes
As tho the homstead trees were drest
In lieu of snow wi dancing leaves
As. tho the sundryd martins nest
Instead of ides hung the eaves
The childern hail the happy day
As if the snow was april grass
And pleasd as neath the warmth of may
Sport oer the water froze to glass
Thou day of happy sound and mirth
That long wi childish memory stays
How blest around the cottage hearth
I met thee in my boyish days
Harping wi raptures dreaming joys
On presents that thy coming found
The welcome sight of little toys
The christmass gifts of comers round
'The wooden horse wi arching head
Drawn upon wheels around the room
The gilded coach of ginger bread
And many colord sugar plumb
Gilt coverd books for pictures sought
Or storys childhood loves to tell
Scheme Text too long Poetic Form Metre 101101001 11111101 111111101 01110101 11010101 10111011 011011 01110101 11110101 0101110 0111101 01010101 11011101 0101111 1100110 01010101 101111 10110101 1100101 110010101 1111101 1111 011011 1111101 110111 01110101 11011101 011111 11011101 0111111 01110011 1100101 1101111 01110111 11011101 011111 11010101 11010101 1111111 01100101 11011101 1010111 11111101 11001111 11010100 01110101 01010111 01010111 01011101 11010101 111101001 010111 11110111 1111101 0111111 11010101 01010101 11011101 1100101 0111101 01011101 1101101 01010101 1011101 01110101 1010101 0111101 01110101 01111101 11010101 01000111 111101001 01110101 1101101 0110101 010111 01011101 011101 11111101 1111111 010101011 110101010 01001111 10110110 1111101 01010111 10110111 01110101 1101011 010110101 1110101 010011111 11111101 11110101 1111101 1111111 011101010 11010111 1000111010 01101 1010101 1101111 11010101 0101001 1101101 01111101 1101101 0111101 0110101 11011101 01110111 11010111 11110101 111101001 11010101 11101101 1011101 11011101 01011101 0111101 01011101 10110101 01011101 0101101 1111101 1111111 Closest metre Iambic tetrameter Characters 4,166 Words 779 Sentences 2 Stanzas 15 Stanza Lengths 16, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 6 Lines Amount 126 Letters per line (avg) 28 Words per line (avg) 6 Letters per stanza (avg) 233 Words per stanza (avg) 52 Font size:Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 25, 2023
- 3:55 min read
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"Christmas" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22209/christmas>.
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