Analysis of Christmas without Christ

John Henry Newman 1801 (London) – 1890 (Edgbaston)



HOW can I keep my Christmas feast
   In its due festive show,
Reft of the sight of the High Priest
   From whom its glories flow?

I hear the tuneful bells around,
   The blessèd towers I see;
A stranger on a foreign ground,
   They peal a fast for me.

O Britons! now so brave and high,
   How will ye weep the day
When Christ in judgment passes by,
   And calls the Bride away!  

Your Christmas then will lose its mirth,
   Your Easter lose its bloom:
Abroad, a scene of strife and dearth;
   Within, a cheerless home!


Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GXGX
Poetic Form Quatrain  (75%)
Metre 11111101 011101 11011011 111101 11010101 0111011 01010101 110111 11011101 111101 11010101 010101 11011111 110111 01011101 01011
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 526
Words 97
Sentences 6
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 95
Words per stanza (avg) 24
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

29 sec read
90

John Henry Newman

Blessed John Henry Newman CO, also referred to as Cardinal Newman, was an important figure in the religious history of England in the 19th century. more…

All John Henry Newman poems | John Henry Newman Books

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