On a Christmas day

Music on Christmas morning

Music I love-­but ne'er a strain
Could kindle raptures so divine,
So grief assuage, so conquer pain,
And rouse this pensive heart of mine;
As that we hear on Christmas morn,
Upon the wintry breezes borne.

Though darkness still her empire keep,
And hours must pass, ere morning break;
From troubled dreams, or slumbers deep,
That music kindly bids us wake:
It calls us, with an angel's voice,
To wake, and worship, and rejoice.

To greet with joy the glorious morn,
Which angels welcomed long ago,
When our redeeming Lord was born,
To bring the light of Heaven below;
The powers of darkness to dispel,
And rescue Earth from death and hell.

While listening to that sacred strain,
My raptured spirit soars on high;
I seem to hear those songs again
Resounding through the open sky,
That kindled such divine delight,
In those who watched their flocks by night.

With them, I celebrate His birth;
Glory to God, in highest Heaven,
Good will to men, and peace on Earth,
To us a Savior King is given;
Our God is come to claim His own,
And Satan's power is overthrown!

A sinless God, for sinful men,
Descends to suffer and to bleed;
Hell must renounce its empire then;
The price is paid, the world is freed,
And Satan's self must now confess,
That Christ has earned a right to bless.

Now holy peace may smile from heaven,
And heavenly truth from earth shall spring:
The captive's galling bonds are riven,
For our Redeemer is our King;
And He that gave His blood for men
Will lead us home to God again

(Anne Brontë)

According to the Scarborough Connection website:

Written: Undated - Christmas 1841 - 45. Possibly 1843. First Published: 1846.

This poem is impossible to date as the manuscript no longer exists. It could have been written at any Christmas between 1841 and 1845; though the similarity of the 'rhyme scheme' with her other poem ''Tis Strange To Think' might suggest 1843 as the 'slightly preferable date'. The only version we have - the one presented below - is that which appeared in Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell.
(See also: Chitham, 'The Poems of Anne Brontë', p.96 & p.178)

If you can read music you can sing the poem as well with this score composed by Paul Reiners in 2004. The alternative is the hymn "Pater Omnium," composed by Henry J. E. Holmes in 1875 and used as background music here.

Categories: Messages_from_BB, Music, Poetry, Anne_Brontë