Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine;
Love was born at Christmas,
Star and Angels gave the sign.
Worship we the Godhead,
Love Incarnate, Love Divine;
Worship we our Jesus:
But wherewith for sacred sign?
Love shall be our token,
Love shall be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and all men,
Love for plea and gift and sign.
-Christina Rossetti
So beautiful, this poem by the homeschooled Miss Rossetti. Each morning I read it. She is our poet this term and I’ve been reading about her and what I think is her fascinating life. I’m on my 3rd biography – interesting how there is nothing written for young people about her, aside from a Rookie Biography. Also interesting to hear what my son’s Vic Lit teacher had to say about her work. I am sure I will share more here as we go on, things like the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, commonplace books, broken engagements and breath-stealing poetry. Funny how the current poet quickly becomes my favorite.
We are also stepping outside of normal and learning this CCM song by Jars of Clay. They adapt her words slightly. The kids memorized it instantly, of course. I want you to hear the catchy music, but I think the video is a bit dippy. Pink giraffe-like unicorns? Really? The weightiness and beauty of the verse seems mismatched with the visual. What do you think?
“Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14
Admiration, Hope and Love,
Nancy
Did you all hear the 10 commandments bit at the end of the song? Turns out that is from the song "Children, Go Where I Send Thee". (HT to Heidi for that bit of info!)
the video certainly was interesting…provoked some thoughts… if i were to seriously think about it, i'd have several problems with it though.
i see what you mean about pairing the two… i had to concentrate on listening, because the visuals were kind of… well, distracting.
the words SO Christ centered. Love incarnate.
yes. i love that LOVE came down at Christmas!
VERY good choice 🙂
Have to confess I could not watch this video. The music was even a bit too dippy for me as well. However the words are lovely. I love that you get so into poet biographies. I get that way to when we are studying an artist or poet or musician. Which Rossetti bio do you recommend?
@ Kristin – And I love that you really like it! But I'm fine with avoiding flying tacos with our next hymn study!
I LOVE the video. The weightiness and beauty of the words balances perfectly with the visual. My favorite is the flying taco 🙂 Somehow the song is more real, more memorable, has more impact with the video.
@ Elizabeth – okay, if you put it in the folk art category, I could enjoy it!
Well, as I was playing this lovely song our white cat came in and started purring. I rather like it too : D As a fan of Folk Art I love the video too!
We are also finding books from Rossetti and reading her poems this term. They are so nice. The ones I loved most on the AO anthology seasonal poems always ended up being those with her name by them! I have books on my wish list, but am tackling the library for now.