In the bleak midwinter frosty wind makes moan,
earth stands hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow has fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
in the bleak midwinter it is ever so.
Darkness now surrounds us as the nights grow long,
yet we fill the nighttime with our hopeful song.
Winter’s cold won’t reach us here, where we light our fire
as we burn the old year on its funeral pyre.
Now the new year beckons, even in this night;
soon the days will lengthen and our hearts grow light.
Hope will grow within us as we look ahead
and we see that spring wakes out of winter’s bed.
Light will follow darkness, as the earth turns round,
sunlight follows moonlight, warming frozen ground.
So our lives renew with every dawning day
and with every new year blue skies follow gray.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Music by Gustav Holst
First verse by Christina Rossetti, slightly altered
Additional (solstice) verses by Laura Deal (Raeder)
To hear Loreena McKennitt’s performance of the beautiful tune for this song, please play this video:
