Christmas Poem by John Knight

The bells of waiting Advent ring,
The Tortoise stove is lit again
And lamp-oil light across the night
Has caught the streaks of winter rain
In many a stained glass window sheen
From Crimson Lake to Hooker's Green.

The holly in the windy hedge
And round the manor house the yew
Will soon be stripped to deck the ledge,
The altar, font and arch and pew,
So that the villagers can say
'The Church looks nice' on Christmas Day.

Provincial public houses blaze
And Corporation tramcars clang,
On lighted tenaments I gaze
Where paper decorations hang,
And bunting in the red Town Hall
Says 'Merry Christmas to you all'.

The London shops on Christmas Eve
Are strung with silver bells and flowers
As hurrying clerks the city leave
To pigeon-haunted classic towers,
And marbled clouds go scudding by
The many-steepled London sky.

And girls in slacks remember Dad,
And oafish louts remember Mum,
And sleepless children's hearts are glad
And Christmas -morning bells say 'Come! '
Even to shining ones who dwell
Safe in the Dorchester Hotel

And is it true? And is it true
This most tremendous tale of all
Seen in a stained-glass wndow's hue,
A baby in an ox's stall?
The Maker of the stars and sea
Become a Child on earth for me?

And is it true? For if it is
No loving fingers tying strings
Around those tissued fripperies
The sweet and silly Christmas things
Bath salts and inexpensive scent
And hideous tie so kindly meant.

No love that in a family dwells
No carolling in frosty air
Nor all the steeple-shaking bells
Can with this single Truth compare:
That God was Man in Palestine
And lives today in Bread and Wine.


This is a perfect poem! It has perfect METRE perfect RHYME a regular rhyme pattern a b a b c c (there are only two half-rhymes) . Each stanza is a balanced sestet (six lines) . If you want your poems to be perfect there is much you could learn from John Betjeman (1906 - 1984) . He was a great wordsmith and one of the UK's finest Poet Laureates.

John B - was very middle class and High Church of England - this is evident in the poem. Crimson Lake and Hooker's Green in verse one are colours in the paint box. 'Slacks' in verse four are trousers and the Dorchester is a very posh London Hotel. In verse six 'Carolling' is an English tradition of singing Christmas Songs from house to house and hoping for a drink and a mince pie. Bread & Wine refers to the Christian Communion Service usually held at least once per week on Sunday. It represents the Body and Blood of Christ and is a commemoration of His Atonement. The historical setting of the Poem would be the 1950's in London - England.