Music on Christmas Morning
Music I love--but never strainCould 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 againResounding 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 Saviour-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 confessThat 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 menWill lead us home to God again.
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- wintry a.
- Suitable to winter; resembling winter, or what belongs to winter; brumal; hyemal; cold; stormy; wintery. [AS. wintrig.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- dispel v. t.
- To drive away by scattering, or so to cause to vanish; to clear away; to banish; to dissipate; as, to dispel a cloud, vapors, cares, doubts, illusions. [L. dispellere; dis- + pellere to push, drive. See Pulse a beating.]
- saviour n.
- One who saves, preserves, or delivers from destruction or danger. [OE. saveour, OF. salveor, F. sauveur, fr. L. salvator to save. See Save, v.]
- sinless a.
- Free from sin. Piers Plowman.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- galling a.
- Fitted to gall or chafe; vexing; harassing; irritating.
- redeemer n.
- One who redeems.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Music on Christmas Morning is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, Project Gutenberg ebook #1019; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë, Music on Christmas Morning, in Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (1846), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1019, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bronte-poems/music-on-christmas-morning.html, id L13256.
Form and metre
Music on Christmas Morning is 42 lines in 7 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 5 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 10% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic 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 ABABCC strainA · divineB · painA · mineB · mornC · borneC
- 2 ABABCC keepA · breakB · deepA · wakeB · voiceC · rejoiceC
- 3 ABABCC mornA · agoB · bornA · belowB · dispelC · hellC
- 4 ABABCC strainA · highB · againA · skyB · delightC · nightC
- 5 ABABBB birthA · heavenB · earthA · givenB · ownB · overthrownB
- 6 ABABCC menA · bleedB · thenA · freedB · confessC · blessC
- 7 ABABAA heavenA · springB · rivenA · kingB · menA · againA
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 iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Music I love--but never strain | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Could kindle raptures so divine, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| So grief assuage, so conquer pain, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| And rouse this pensive heart of mine-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As that we hear on Christmas morn, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Upon the wintry breezes borne. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Though Darkness still her empire keep, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And hours must pass, ere morning break; | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| From troubled dreams, or slumbers deep, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That music KINDLY bids us wake: | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| It calls us, with an angel's voice, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To wake, and worship, and rejoice; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| To greet with joy the glorious morn, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Which angels welcomed long ago, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| When our redeeming Lord was born, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| To bring the light of Heaven below; | 8 | ·····/·· |
| The Powers of Darkness to dispel, | 8 | ·/·/˘·˘/ |
| And rescue Earth from Death and Hell. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| While listening to that sacred strain, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| My raptured spirit soars on high; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| I seem to hear those songs again | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Resounding through the open sky, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| That kindled such divine delight, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘/ |
| In those who watched their flocks by night. | 8 | ········ |
| With them I celebrate His birth-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Glory to God, in highest Heaven, | 9 | /˘···/˘/˘ |
| Good-will to men, and peace on earth, | 8 | ········ |
| To us a Saviour-king is given; | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Our God is come to claim His own, | 8 | /······· |
| And Satan's power is overthrown! | 8 | ·/˘/··˘/ |
| A sinless God, for sinful men, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Descends to suffer and to bleed; | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Hell MUST renounce its empire then; | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| The price is paid, the world is freed, | 8 | ········ |
| And Satan's self must now confess | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| That Christ has earned a RIGHT to bless: | 8 | ········ |
| Now holy Peace may smile from heaven, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| And heavenly Truth from earth shall spring: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The captive's galling bonds are riven, | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| For our Redeemer is our king; | 8 | ·/˘/˘·/· |
| And He that gave his blood for men | 8 | ········ |
| Will lead us home to God again. | 8 | ······˘/ |
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