Noël
On a winter’s night long time ago(The bells ring loud and the bells ring low),When high howled wind, and down fell snow(Carillon, Carilla).Saint Joseph he and Nostre Dame,Riding on an ass, full weary cameFrom Nazareth into Bethlehem.And the small child Jesus smile on you.
And Bethlehem inn they stood before(The bells ring less and the bells ring more),The landlord bade them begone from his door(Carillon, Carilla).“Poor folk” (says he), “must lie where they may,For the Duke of Jewry comes this way,With all his train on a Christmas Day.”And the small child Jesus smile on you.
Poor folk that may my carol hear(The bells ring single and the bells ring clear),See! God’s one child had hardest cheer!(Carillon, Carilla).Men grown hard on a Christmas morn;The dumb beast by and a babe forlorn.It was very, very cold when our Lord was born.And the small child Jesus smile on you.
Now these were Jews as Jews must be(The bells ring merry and the bells ring free).But Christian men in a band are we(Carillon, Carilla).Empty we go, and ill be-dight,Singing Noël on a Winter’s night.Give us to sup by the warm firelight,And the small child Jesus smile on you.
Words in this poem
- carillon n.
- A chime of bells diatonically tuned, played by clockwork or by finger keys. [F. carillon a chime of bells, originally consisting of four bells, as if fr.. (assumed) L. quadrilio, fr. quatuer four.]
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
- bethlehem n.
- A hospital for lunatics; -- corrupted into bedlam. [Heb. b house of food; b house + lekhem food, lakham to eat. Formerly the name of a hospital for the insane, in London, which had been the priory of St. Mary of ]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- duke n.
- A leader; a chief; a prince. [F. duc, fr. L. dux, ducis, leader, commander, fr. ducere to lead; akin to AS. teón to draw; cf. AS. heretoga (here army) an army leader, general, G. herzog duke]
- jewry n.
- Judea; also, a district inhabited by Jews; a Jews' quarter. [OE. Jewerie, OF. Juierie, F. Juiverie.]
- carol v. t.
- To praise or celebrate in song.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- babe n.
- An infant; a young child of either sex; a baby. [Cf. Ir. bab, baban, W. baban, maban.]
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Noël is in the public domain. This text is taken from Sonnets and Verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #60663; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Hilaire Belloc, Noël, in Sonnets and Verse (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #60663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/belloc-sonnets-verse/no-l.html, id L21675.
Form and metre
Noël is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 50% of the lines. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 75%).
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AAA-BB-- agoA · lowA · snowA · carilla · dameB · cameB · bethlehem · you
- 2 AAA-BBB- beforeA · moreA · doorA · carilla · mayB · wayB · dayB · you
- 3 AAA-BBB- hearA · clearA · cheerA · carilla · mornB · forlornB · bornB · you
- 4 AAA-BBB- beA · freeA · weA · carilla · dightB · nightB · firelightB · you
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| On a winter’s night long time ago | 9 | ··/˘···˘/ |
| (The bells ring loud and the bells ring low), | 9 | ········· |
| When high howled wind, and down fell snow | 8 | ········ |
| (Carillon, Carilla). | 6 | /˘·˘/˘ |
| Saint Joseph he and Nostre Dame, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Riding on an ass, full weary came | 9 | /˘····/˘· |
| From Nazareth into Bethlehem. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And the small child Jesus smile on you. | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| And Bethlehem inn they stood before | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| (The bells ring less and the bells ring more), | 9 | ········· |
| The landlord bade them begone from his door | 10 | ·/···˘/··· |
| (Carillon, Carilla). | 6 | /˘·˘/˘ |
| “Poor folk” (says he), “must lie where they may, | 9 | ········· |
| For the Duke of Jewry comes this way, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| With all his train on a Christmas Day.” | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And the small child Jesus smile on you. | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Poor folk that may my carol hear | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| (The bells ring single and the bells ring clear), | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| See! God’s one child had hardest cheer! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| (Carillon, Carilla). | 6 | /˘·˘/˘ |
| Men grown hard on a Christmas morn; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The dumb beast by and a babe forlorn. | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| It was very, very cold when our Lord was born. | 12 | ··/˘/˘··/··· |
| And the small child Jesus smile on you. | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Now these were Jews as Jews must be | 8 | ········ |
| (The bells ring merry and the bells ring free). | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| But Christian men in a band are we | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| (Carillon, Carilla). | 6 | /˘·˘/˘ |
| Empty we go, and ill be-dight, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Singing Noël on a Winter’s night. | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Give us to sup by the warm firelight, | 10 | ·········· |
| And the small child Jesus smile on you. | 9 | ····/˘··· |
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