When the December days turn cold and dark and icy, I always think of this Christmas song. It is, and always has been, my favorite. The melody is haunting, and the lyrics are perfect as we hover on the brink of winter.
A lot of musicians have made this song their own, including James Taylor and Sarah MacLachlan and Shawn Colvin. But my favorite version is the one on Windham Hill's Winter Solstice III, sung by Pierce Pettis. It is absolutely, perfectly beautiful.
In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone.
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow.
In the bleak mid-winter, long ago.
...
What then can I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb.
And if I were a wise man, I would do my part,
Yet what I can I give him, I will give my heart.
written prior to 1872. It was set to music by Gustav Holst,
and became part of the English hymnal in 1906.
I actually think a snowy winter scene is beautiful. No bleakness in my eyes. The bleakness, I think, comes from gray, rainy skies and trees barren of leaves.
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