Analysis of Christmas in the Olden Time, 1650
Letitia Elizabeth Landon 1802 (Chelsea) – 1838 (Cape Coast)
At Wycoller Hall the family usually kept open house the twelve days at Christmas. Their entertainment was, a large hall of curious ashler work, a long table, plenty of furmenty like new milk, in a morning, made of husked wheat, boiled and roasted beef, with a fat goose, and a pudding, with plenty of good beer for dinner. A round-about fire-place, surrounded with stone benches, where the young folks sat and cracked nuts, and diverted themselves, and in this manner the sons and daughters got matching without going much from home."— Family MS. of the Cunliffes.
You must come back, my brother,
For Christmas is so near,
And Christmas is the crowning time,
The purple of the year;
He calls his court about him,
He is the fairy king,
Whose revel is at midnight
Within a charmed ring.
Christmas is coming, my brother dear,
And Christmas comes, my brother, but once a year.
The last leaf hath departed
From off the old oak tree,
But there is the wreath of misletoe
Where the green leaf used to be.
And we’ll hang up the charmed coronal
Above the highest door,
And strangers all must pay the fine
Ere they tread the fairy floor.
Christmas is coming, my brother dear,
And Christmas comes, my brother, but once a year.
The trees are white with hoar-frost,
And snow is on the ground,
But there are yet some roses
Beside the casement found;
And the terrace yet has myrtle;
Both shall be saved for you;
And you shall give them, my brother,
But I must not guess to who!
Christmas is coming, my brother dear,
And Christmas comes, my brother, but once a year.
The willow lake is frozen,
You will have such skaiting there;
And the trees, like lovelorn maidens,
Hang down their glittering hair.
The holly’s scarlet berries,
Amid the leaves appear;
It is an elfin armoury,
With banner and with spear.
Christmas is coming, my brother dear,
And Christmas comes, my brother, but once a year.
We shall gather every evening
Beside the ancient hearth,
But one vacant place beside it,
Would darken all its mirth.
At any time but Christmas
We give you leave to roam,
But now come back, my brother,
You are so missed at home.
Christmas is coming, my brother dear,
And Christmas comes, my brother, but once a year.
Scheme | a bcxcxdedCC xfefghxhCC xiaigjbjCC xkakacbcCC dxxxalblCC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11101001000110101111010101011110011011010111110010111110101101100101101111100101101010111010111011001001001100101011001101111001101 1111110 110111 01010101 010101 1111011 110101 110111 01011 101101101 01011101101 0111010 110111 1110111 1011111 0111011 010101 01011101 1110101 101101101 01011101101 0111111 011101 1111110 01011 00101110 111111 01111110 1111111 101101101 01011101101 011110 111111 0011110 1111001 011010 010101 111101 110011 101101101 01011101101 111010010 010101 11101011 110111 1101110 111111 1111110 111111 101101101 01011101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,355 |
Words | 395 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 |
Lines Amount | 51 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 286 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 66 |
Font size:
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Christmas in the Olden Time, 1650" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/52581/christmas-in-the-olden-time%2C-1650>.
Discuss this Letitia Elizabeth Landon poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In