|
|
Classic and Contemporary Poetry
BALLADE OF CHRISTMAS GHOSTS, by ANDREW LANG Poem Explanation Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Between the moonlight and the fire Last Line: The ghosts we all can raise at will! Subject(s): Christmas; Nativity, The | |||
BETWEEN the moonlight and the fire In winter twilights long ago, What ghosts we raised for your desire To make your merry blood run slow! How old, how grave, how wise we grow! No Christmas ghost can make us chill, Save those that troop in mournful row, The ghosts we all can raise at will! The beasts can talk in barn and byre On Christmas Eve, old legends know, As year by year the years retire, We men fall silent then I trow, Such sights hath Memory to show, Such voices from the silence thrill, Such shapes return with Christmas snow,— The ghosts we all can raise at will. Oh, children of the village choir, Your carols on the midnight throw, Oh bright across the mist and mire Ye ruddy hearths of Christmas glow! Beat back the dread, beat down the woe, Let's cheerily descend the hill; Be welcome all, to come or go, The ghosts we all can raise at will! ENVOY. Friend, sursum corda, soon or slow We part, like guests who've joyed their fill; Forget them not, nor mourn them so, The ghosts we all can raise at will! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DIFFERENT VIEWS; A CHRISMAS DUET by JOSEPH ASHBY-STERRY AN UNMERRY CHRISTMAS by AMBROSE BIERCE CHRISTMAS IN CHINATOWN by AUGUST KLEINZAHLER CHRISTMAS TREE by JOHN FREDERICK NIMS ISAIAH'S COAL by JOHN FREDERICK NIMS SOUNDS OF THE RESURRECTED DEAD MAN'S FOOTSTEPS (#3): 1. BEAST, PEACH.. by MARVIN BELL |
| |