In the Bleak Midwinter

{
  "kind": "story",
  "canonical_url": "https://ririro.com/poems/in-the-bleak-midwinter/",
  "slug": "in-the-bleak-midwinter",
  "story_dirname": "poems--in-the-bleak-midwinter",
  "section_slug": "poems",
  "title": "In the Bleak Midwinter",
  "author": "Christina Georgina Rossetti",
  "publisher_label": "Ririro",
  "source_version": "unknown",
  "content_type": "poem",
  "language": "en",
  "summary": "\"In the Bleak Midwinter\" is a Christmas poem by Christina Rossetti that opens in a frozen, silent world — earth hard as iron, water turned to stone — into which the divine unexpectedly arrives. Against this stark winter landscape, Rossetti traces the nativity scene from angels thronging the air to a mother's quiet kiss, before turning the gaze inward. The poem's final stanza poses a deeply personal question: what can one person, poor and ordinary, truly give? The answer arrives with disarming simplicity.",
  "body": [
    "In the bleak mid-winter 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.",
    "Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him Nor earth sustain; Heaven and earth shall flee away When He comes to reign: In the bleak mid-winter A stable-place sufficed The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.",
    "Enough for Him, whom cherubim Worship night and day, A breastful of milk And a mangerful of hay; Enough for Him, whom angels Fall down before, The ox and ass and camel Which adore.",
    "Angels and archangels May have gathered there, Cherubim and seraphim Thronged the air; But only His mother In her maiden bliss, Worshipped the Beloved With a kiss.",
    "What can I give Him, Poor as I am? If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb, If I were a wise man I would do my part, Yet what I can I give Him, Give my heart."
  ],
  "body_text": "In the bleak mid-winter 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.\n\nOur God, Heaven cannot hold Him Nor earth sustain; Heaven and earth shall flee away When He comes to reign: In the bleak mid-winter A stable-place sufficed The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.\n\nEnough for Him, whom cherubim Worship night and day, A breastful of milk And a mangerful of hay; Enough for Him, whom angels Fall down before, The ox and ass and camel Which adore.\n\nAngels and archangels May have gathered there, Cherubim and seraphim Thronged the air; But only His mother In her maiden bliss, Worshipped the Beloved With a kiss.\n\nWhat can I give Him, Poor as I am? If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb, If I were a wise man I would do my part, Yet what I can I give Him, Give my heart.",
  "theme_slugs": [],
  "listing_memberships": [
    {
      "type": "collection",
      "slug": "poems",
      "title": "Poems",
      "url": "https://ririro.com/poems/"
    },
    {
      "type": "author",
      "slug": "christina-georgina-rossetti",
      "title": "Christina Georgina Rossetti",
      "url": "https://ririro.com/author/christina-georgina-rossetti/"
    }
  ],
  "reading_meta": {
    "reading_level": null,
    "age_band": null,
    "read_time": null
  },
  "media": {
    "has_audio": true,
    "has_pdf": true,
    "has_images": true
  },
  "asset_refs": {
    "pdf_urls": [
      "https://ririro.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/In-the-Bleak-Midwinter_compressed.pdf"
    ],
    "audio_urls": [
      "https://widget.spreaker.com/player/?episode_id=66811009&theme=dark&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true"
    ],
    "image_urls": [
      "https://ririro.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/in-the-bleak-midwinter.png"
    ]
  },
  "breadcrumbs": [
    "In the Bleak Midwinter"
  ],
  "scraped_at": "2026-05-07T12:30:30+00:00"
}