Vintage-Retro Christmas Poems

[Mistletoe]

Christmas is more than a holiday
We celebrate each year.
It's the season of miracles,
A time for spreading cheer.
It's a time to hold reunions,
A time to make amends
As we send cards and gather with
Our family and friends.

It's a time to forgive others,
To pray for peace on earth
And treat all men as brothers
As we celebrate Christ's birth.
Our hearts are warmed at Christmastime
By strings of colored lights
As we exchange those "special gifts"
On those holy, silent nights.

We decorate our Christmas trees
With ornaments of love,
Each one a precious memory
Bright as the stars above.
Generations blend together
As friends and loved ones draw near.
Christmas is more than a holiday
We celebrate each year.

Clay Harrison

[Bishop1954]

The following poem was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow at the time of the US Civil War, part of which became a song...

Christmas Bells, 1863

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
__And wild and sweet
__The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
__Had rolled along
__The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
__A voice, a chime,
__A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
__And with the sound
__The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
__And made forlorn
__The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
__“For hate is strong,
__And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
__The Wrong shall fail,
__The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”

[Mistletoe]

I sing that song randomly throughout the year and the last stanza always gives me chills. Thanks for the reminder of who it was written by and when.

[Bishop1954]

Same here. It overwhelms me at times the events that inspire Christmas tunes and poems... Christmas Poem.jpg

[Mistletoe]

Same here. It overwhelms me at times the events that inspire Christmas tunes and poems...

I love the old Christmas cards.