Festive Review ~ Christmas Music: Ten Poems of Comfort and Joy from Candlestick Press

 

Candlestick Press
 September 2024

Thanks to the publisher for my copy of this pamphlet

Whether it’s ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ or ‘Away in a Manger’ we all have a song, carol or tune that heralds the arrival of the festive season. Music seems to offer a miraculous short-cut to memories of happy times.

The selection takes us on a magical journey from “frosty voices of December stars” to a band of carol-singers “with weary limb” longing to find someone who will open the door and listen. We find voices lifted at the darkest time of the year, offering their own particular light:

“After long silence, there is music again,

thin lip of moon and again bright stars,

the weeds, safe now in their coffins of ice,

in singing weather.”

from ‘In Singing Weather’ by Maggie Anderson

We hope these poems will fill your Christmas with just the right amount of comfort and joy.

Poems by Maggie Anderson, Hayden Carruth, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Frances Ridley Havergal, Oliver Herford, Lorraine Mariner, Adrian Mitchell, Edwin Morgan, Christina Rossetti and Marjorie Wilson.

Cover illustration by Niki Bowers.

Donation to Our Dementia Choir.

 🎄My Review

Christmas music is so evocative, whether it be the cheery sound of 1970s pop classics being blasted out in shops or the quiet majesty of choral classics there is something really special about hearing those first few notes which herald the start of the Christmas season. When my children were small it was hearing them sing Away in  Manger in their school nativity concerts which brought a lump to my throat, now it's hearing the first ethereal sound of Kings College Choir sing Once in Royal David's City in their Christmas Eve broadcast which makes me appreciate the calming effect of Christmas music.

These ten lovely poems remind us to take time out to appreciate the joy music brings us.

From Fairytale of New York - The Pogues featuring Kirsty Macoll by Lorraine Mariner

"The only Christmas song I can listen to

Any day of the year, and when I do

I think about my father and the tin whistle

he bought for me one half-birthday

from the music shop near his office.."

From Sunshine and Shadow by Paul Laurence Dunbar

"The heigho for the flying snow!

Over the whitened roads we go

With pulses that tingle

And sleigh-bells-a-jingle

For a winter's white birds here's a cheery, heighho!"

 And my favourite Victorian poet Christina Rossetti gives us this beautiful verse:

Christmas Eve

"Christmas hath a darkness

Brighter than a blazing noon,

Christmas hath a chillness

Warmer than the heat of June

Christmas hath a beauty

Lovelier than the world can show:

For Christmas bringeth Jesus

Brought for us so low"

This magical anthology  of Christmas Music: Ten Poems of Comfort and Joy is something quite special and is a lovely 'instead of a card' keepsake which reminds us that Christmas music in all its forms brings us joy of the season. 

About the Publisher

Candlestick Press is a small, independent press publishing sumptuously produced poetry pamphlets that serve as a wonderful alternative to a greetings card, with matching envelopes and bookmarks left blank for your message. Their subjects include Mountains, Clouds, Walking, Birds, Wine and Happiness. Candlestick Press pamphlets are stocked by chain and independent bookshops, galleries and garden centres nationwide and available to order online.

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