Fifteen Christmas Poems And Some

Every year I write a Christmas poem for a chosen few of my relatives and friends. This book is a compilation of all the poems I wrote from 2003 to 2018 plus a selection of stories about Christmas, musical instruments used in the parranda (Christmas music), a little nostalgia about how Trinidadians celebrate Christmas, and a synopsis about the Christmas music we know as parang (parranda).

For more than thirty years Wendy Cope has been one of the nation's most popular and respected poets. Christmas Poems collects together her best festive poems, including anthology favourites such as 'The Christmas Life', together with new and previously unpublished work. Cope celebrates the joyful aspects of the season but doesn't overlook the problems and sadness it can bring. With lively illustrations to accompany the words, it is a book to enjoy this Christmas and in years to come.

In this gentle and humorous anthology of poems, stories, commentary and reflections, Adrian Plass invites us to celebrate Christmas in its many facets. And Jesus Will Be Born is a holiday cornucopia filled with the laughter, tears, family foibles, simple joys and the rich blessings of the season. There's no predicting what the turn of a page will bring in this Christmas collection by Adrian Plass. It may be a bit of verse to moisten the eyes ... When I'm in heaven Tell me there'll be Christmases without the pain No memories that will not fade No chilled and sullen sense of loss That cannot face the festive flame Nor breathe excitement from the ice-cream air Tell me how the things that Christmas should have been Will be there for eternity in one long shining dawn For all of us to share I love the promises of Christmas. Then again, there is this -- an 'advertisement' from Plass's spoof of a church newsletter: 'How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news? The answer is -- not very, if they haven't had those ugly corns treated. Christian chiropodist. Special Yuletide reductions ...' Setting the poignant, the madcap, the joyous and the tender in artful counterpoint, this is a book to be savored over the entire holiday season. It offers something for everyone in every setting -- family readings, personal libraries and even church pulpits. And Jesus Will Be Born speaks to the full spectrum of our humanity, celebrating the golden Christmas traditions, poking playfully at our seasonal foibles, observing our less-than-noble attitudes with an eye that is at once honest and gracious -- and always looking towards the Person around whom all that is truly Christmas revolves. In the midst of our festivities, Adrian Plass gently reminds us why we need a Savior. And he points us towards the unfathomable possibilities that have been opened to us, and the joy and hope that are ours, because Jesus was born long ago in Bethlehem and is born today in us.

Most people are familiar with the poem Mary Had a Little Lamb. The poem was written about an actual event when a girl named Mary took her lamb to school. However, this can be interpreted as Mary, the mother of Jesus, who is the Lamb of God.

When I think of Christmas my thoughts often turn to a painting called "The Nativity" by the great Tuscan artist Piero della Francesca which fortunately we have in our National Gallery in London. The feelings of solemn serenity and peace which it evokes by its subdued, marmoreal tones enable us to experience the pure light of rebirth. Leonardo's "The Virgin of the Rocks" uses dark shadows but is also incredibly beautiful. When we recall that this area of Central Italy produced Dante and Michelangelo, perhaps the soil there is particularly fertile. Or it could be the wine! You'd better ask Fabrizio Frosini, a very fine poet in both Italian and English for his view on that, as he too hails from Tuscany!The desire for peace and the rebirth of childhood memories feature in many poems in this collection. There are also many expressions of joy, as indulgent parents share the excitement of the day with boisterous children busily unwrapping presents below the Christmas tree. In recalling her visit with her father to the "Wassail Bowl", Marianne Larsen Reninger, brings out in fine detail a beautiful childhood memory. She also gets a plus from me for mentioning my favourite carol, Silent Night! In another fine poem Margaret O'Driscoll expresses the joy of Christmas Night.The contributions come from thirty-one Countries right round the World and the range of ideas and images sparkles like a box of brightly coloured jewels. I think each contributor has important things to say about Christmas and there is much to admire in the contrasts of styles and the personal views of the season. I hope contributors will not be offended if I do not mention their poem specifically but I can assure everyone each poem had its own sparkle. So I hope you will forgive me for indulging in my own personal tastes.Sometimes it is a line that catches my eye. Bharati Nayak's line "Light candles of beautiful smiles" moved me. There is also a line in Anitah Muwanguzi's poem "love falls softly hard": History reborn and given a new name..Sometimes a whole poem enchants me as Valsa George's "A Christmas Song", Karen Edwards' "Sacred Season" and Judith Blatherwick's "The Christmas Flight". Also, as some of my friends on Poem Hunter will know, I love humour and it is an essential ingredient of Christmas. Two very funny poems come from the same family, mother and son. Pamela Sinicrope made me laugh with her line "as the kids look on in horror" referring to parents' dancing talents. I'm sure Pam didn't mean herself as, judging by the beautiful rhythm of her verse, she is probably a very good dancer! In any event it is the solemn duty of parents to embarrass their offspring on these festive occasions. Most remarkable is the poem her fifteen year old son, Stephen submitted. One-liners such as "stringing up the slaughtered pine" and "withering wax wafts sweet as wine" show great promise but the two lines which really creased me with laughter were: "The girls start to smooth their skirts / To hide their forked tails." Stephen is clearly a rising star! Often Christmas takes a great deal of worthwhile preparation. This is perhaps exemplified best by Barry Middleton in his excellent poem, "Cedar Tree Christmas". That "joy is something to be earned" as he and his friends did in obtaining their "priceless Christmas tree."Of course, for some Christmas can be a time of sadness, remembering departed relatives and friends but , even here, there is a determination to enjoy the day for the sake of lost ones. Christmas is a time for reflection and it would be well to remember previous occasions when those who are now missing contributed so much to the family's enjoyment.I am sure we would all like to thank Fabrizio for giving us this opportunity to submit our poems in this collection. Having read every poem, I believe he has created a book to treasure. Well done, everyone, and I hope that all your special dreams come true. Merry Christmas!Tom Billsborough, England

This unique collection of "CHRISTMAS CLASSICS: 150+ Novels, Stories & Poems (Illustrated Edition)” has been designed and formatted to the highest digital standards. Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (L. Frank Baum) Christmas At Sea (Robert Louis Stevenson) The Little City of Hope (F. Marion Crawford) The Gift of the Magi (O. Henry) The First Christmas Of New England (Harriet Beecher Stowe) The Holy Night (Selma Lagerlöf) Christmas in the Olden Time (Walter Scott) Christmas In India (Rudyard Kipling) The Twelve Days of Christmas Silent Night Ring Out, Wild Bells (Alfred Lord Tennyson) Christmas with Grandma Elsie (Martha Finley) Little Lord Fauntleroy (Frances Hodgson Burnett) Anne of Green Gables (Lucy Maud Montgomery) The Christmas Angel (Abbie Farwell Brown) Black Beauty (Anna Sewell) The Christmas Child (Hesba Stretton) Granny's Wonderful Chair (Frances Browne) The Romance of a Christmas Card (Kate Douglas Wiggin) Wind in the Willows (Kenneth Grahame) The Birds' Christmas Carol (Kate Douglas Wiggin) The Wonderful Life - Story of the life and death of our Lord (Hesba Stretton) A Merry Christmas & Other Christmas Stories (Louisa May Alcott) Little Gretchen and the Wooden Shoe (Elizabeth Harrison) A Letter from Santa Claus (Mark Twain) Where Love Is, God Is (Leo Tolstoy) Peter Pan and Wendy (J. M. Barrie) Little Women (Louisa May Alcott) The Wonderful Wizard of OZ (L. Frank Baum) The Christmas Angel (Abbie Farwell Brown) The Tale of Peter Rabbit (Beatrix Potter) Toinette and the Elves (Susan Coolidge) The Heavenly Christmas Tree (Fyodor Dostoevsky) At the Back of the North Wind (George MacDonald) Christmas at Thompson Hall (Anthony Trollope) The Princess and the Goblin (George MacDonald) Thurlow's Christmas Story (John Kendrick Bangs) Christmas Every Day (William Dean Howells) The Lost Word (Henry van Dyke) The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (E. T. A. Hoffmann) The Little Match Girl The Elves and the Shoemaker...