The Cecil Whig., 1885-12-26

An Original WHIG Feature.
POEMS OF NATIVITY.

haunted the songs of the poets punctual-
ly at every return of the hallowed festi-
val. A special place should be set apart
in our literature for these Poems of Ma
tivity. OF late years they have grown so
numerous that it would be difficult to
keep record of them. 1t is subject
graced with such sweetness and purity
and sublimity that any poet, no matter
how low he may rank in the poetic role,
can sing something with reference to
the Christmas-tide. The ruer poets of
the nativity, those who have gained i'm
mortal names for their works, are such
as will rank with Milton, Dryden, Ten
nyson and Longfellow, but these men
have written of the Nativity without re-
gard to its local reference as a national
holiday; their strains have been lofty,
touching upon the philosophy of the
Creator of the Son of God and teaching
deep lessons from the circumstances of
the Divine birth. The babe born in the
manger at Bethlehem became the poets
King, the symbol of verses that chime
with melody, and whose sweetness and
purity of tone fully indicate from whence
was received the power by which they
were conceived. While Chaucer was
writing his famous Canterbury Taies,"
and Edward Spenser his beautiful "Fairie
Queen" the lesser poets of the time
| were entoning lyrics, sOnnets and ballads
to the festival of the Christ child. But
little was then known or understood
about the story of Christ's birth. 1t was
Chaucer began to write that John Wy
cliffe issued his translation of the Bible
from the Latin Nulgate into the English
in use at that time. My readers may
Judge what miserable stuff this was by
reading the following quotation from
some of the writing at that time:
Forsoothe when Jhesus hadde comen
down fro the hill, many cumpanyes fole-
widen hym. And loo. a leprouse man
cummynge worshipide him, sayinge;
Lord gif thou volt, thou mast make me
clene. And Jhesus holdynge forthe the
honde. touchide hymn, sayinge, | wole;
be thou maad clene. And anoon the
lepre of hym was clensid. And Jhesus
saith to hym; See, say thou to no man;
but 20 shewe thee to prestis, and otfre
that gifte that Moyses comaundide, into
witnessing to hem
This is portion of the New Testament
precisely as it was translated by John
Wyclitfe, and although his version of the
Bible still remains standard and valua-
bic authority it is almost as little read
today as it was in 1850. Owing to the
great illiteracy of the times and the lack
of beauty in Wycliffe's translation the
story of Christs birth attracted little at
tention and the minds of the poets con-
temporary with Chauser were still occu-
pied with court ballads and love-sick
apostrophes t. Nut brown maids" and
'Dames with rosy cheeks" " At this
time too, the great Especially of the
poets seemed to be on the order OF those
curious effusions from the pen of Laya-
mon, Robert of Gloucester, Thomas the
Rhymer, and Walter Map, who wrote
great lengthy panigyrics on King Ar
thur and the knights of the Round Table.
These writers were called Rhyming
Chroniclers, and only took for their sub
jects the few legends of chivalry which
some inquiring mind had unearthed from
the mouldering castles of England and
Scotland, whereas if they had been fa-
miliar with the story of the nativity they
would doubtless have fastened upon it at
once and woven it into song and ballad
with vengeance. Not until the time
of Milton did the poems of Christ begin,
although in Shakspcare's and Johnson's
reigus many beautiful attempts were
made to chronicle the tale in poetry The
shadow of superstition was too dark
however, to permit of the production OF
those clear ringing and sweet toned songs
which the chief event of the Bible. has
since called forth. Scarce any reference
is made by Shakespeare to the birth of
Christ or the celebration of his festival,
and Milton only occasionally dealt with
the subject in his solemn strains. The |
shadow of superstition was not upon him
but he did not feel the Divine incentive
that has since moved our poets to cele-
brate the Christmas time in song and |
story. His ode 'On the Morning of
Christ's Nativity" however, is among
the best known Christmas poems, and is
even more frequently quoted as the hap
py season approaches than the later and
better tuned melodies of Francis Ridley |
Havergal and Tennyson. This ode con-
sists OF u stanzas, each one of which |
is a perfect gem, being like spark of
never dying flame struck from the an |
vii of the mighty poets intellect. The |
religious reverence of Milton and the |
sonorous tone that always pervaded his |
work should have made him the poet |
laureate of the nativity, and in many
judg gments he is so considered, despite |
many new poets who have sung of the
Christmas in a milder strain and with |
less gloom and pessimsm. Still,
in Millions ode there is deep and solemn
beauty and power that cannot be per
ceived in the efforts of others who have
not paradise L ,st" or Ill Pensonoro"
to establish tLeir names. The opening
stanza of Milton's ode is perfect poem
in itself, and if he had not written any
more to accompany it it would still be
considered Of remarkable merit 1t
reads;
1t was the winter wild,
While the HeaveR-horn child
All meanly wrapt In the rude manager ,ies
Nature, in awe of Him,
Had dDtied her gaudy trim,
With her great Mater 50 to sympathigei
1t was no season then for her
To wantOn with tie s4n her lusty paraiGGur,
To show how absolutely characteristic
the season of Christmas is to America in
ten-fold superior degree to that of Eng
land, it is fact that, beginning with
the ascendency of Dryden and coming
down through each period of English
literature to that of Alfred Tennyson,
no poem equaling the ode of Milton and
commemorative of the Nativity was
written in the latter country. In the
time included in the periods above men
toned host of minor poets of both