A Poem for Christmas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas is an inherently imaginative time of year when we see the world as it is: crammed with heaven. God sent his son, Jesus, as a child, swaddled and set into a feed trough, to overthrow the dominant fancies of a world gone mad. This is the season when we see a little better what God sees: there are no little people, there is nothing insignificant, God’s story turns the world upside down, because “the light shines forth in the darkness and the darkness does not comprehend it.” Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem is an imaginative call to see with Christmas eyes long after Christmas is over. Enjoy this excerpt from “Aurora Leigh.”

And truly, I reiterate, nothing’s small!
No lily-muffled hum of a summer-bee,
But finds some coupling with the spinning stars;	55
No pebble at your foot, but proves a sphere;
No chaffinch, but implies the cherubim;
And (glancing on my own thin, veinèd wrist),
In such a little tremor of the blood
The whole strong clamour of a vehement soul	60
Doth utter itself distinct. Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries,
And daub their natural faces unaware	65
More and more from the first similitude.