Christmas Eve

Christmas hath a darkness
     Brighter than the blazing noon,
Christmas hath a chillness
     Warmer than the heat of June,
Christmas hath a beauty
     Lovelier than the world can show:
For Christmas bringeth Jesus,
     Brought for us so low.

Earth, strike up your music,
     Birds that sing and bells that ring;
Heaven hath answering music
     For all Angels soon to sing:
Earth, put on your whitest
     Bridal robe of spotless snow:
For Christmas bringeth Jesus,
     Brought for us so low.

--Christina Rosetti (1830-1894), English author, poet, and supporter of the Oxford Movement