THROUGH
MOUNTAIN MISTS
Early Settlers of
Their
Descendants...Their Stories...Their Achievements
Lifting the
Mists of History on Their Way of Life
By: Ethelene Dyer Jones
December.
We celebrate Christmas. The air
is full of Christmas carols coming from every store, television set and
radio,
from church choirs and ordinary people caught up in the spirit of the
season. Some of the carols are sacred,
some secular. Every year some new ones
make the rounds, but if your preferences are as mine, you still prefer
hearing
the old ones, like the words to “O Little Town of Bethlehem” by
American pastor
and poet, the Rev. Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), with music by Lewis H.
Redner. Or choose the much older “Silent
Night”
written by Joseph Mohr (1792-1848) with music first composed by
guitarist Franz
Gruber (1787-1863) because the church organ was broken.
How thrilling is the true story of how World
War I was stopped on a Christmas Eve as German and allied soldiers, all
caught
up in the spirit of the season, stopped their fighting long enough to
sing
together on the battlefield that inimitable carol, “Silent Night.”
But I want to write about some
Christmas poems written by our
For this brief period, to honor “our”
poet, let’s imagine we are listening as he sits near the chimney for
warmth in
his attic room in the small Reece farmhouse nestled along
“Mary,” of course, tells of the
annunciation to young Mary of Nazareth that she was to be the mother of
the Son
of God. “She had no thought to be a
bride/Of angel or of man.” Unsuspecting
and surprised, Mary took the angel’s announcement to heart and
willingly
accepted her role as the Mother of Jesus Christ. And
until his birth should occur in
“The Shepherds in Search of the Lamb
of God,” is a dialogue poem, with shepherds asking questions as they
pursue
their quest (after the angels’ announcement) to find the newborn Babe
in
“The Adoration” might seem by the
title to be a poem about shepherds or wise men, both groups of whom
were found
adoring the Christ Child at or near the time of His birth.
But Reece makes the main character of this
poem a present-day little girl who thought about how she might adore
the Christ
child and bring him gifts. First, she
wished to offer him a dress; next a girdle, followed by a little shoe
and a
shining coin. But finally she thinks it
best to offer her heart, which can be a House where He can come to live. With this progression of gifts, Reece hits
upon the essence of human giving to Christ, for He desires the heart of
persons
above all: “If my heart were a house
also,/A house also with room to spare/I never would suffer my Lord to
go/Homeless, but house Him there, O there,’/Homeless, but house Him
there!”
“Christ Jesus Had Three Gifts from
Men,” is the poetic story of the Magi from the East who came bearing
gifts of
gold, frankincense and myrrh. In Reece’s
lyrical rendering of the gifts he names them gold, an odor sweet, and a
rare
perfume, and interfused with the three gifts is the gift of grace,
which of
course is the intended gift Christ came to give. This
is foreseen in the poem in the last
stanza: “Then, ‘Wise Men, grace abide
with thee,’/All in the stable where He lay,/’Redemption shall my one
gift be/At
Bethlehem on Christmas Day,/On Christmas Day in the Morning.”
When A Song of Joy and Other Poems came
out in 1952, two more of
Reece’s Christmas poems were published.
“When I Think of Christmas Time” is a ten-stanza lyric beginning
with
Christ’s birth at Bethlehem and recounting major events of His life,
including
his death and resurrection. In both the
first and last stanzas the poet celebrates Christmas, and he can do it
joyously
because he knows the victory: “Therefore
let My Birthday be/A time of joyful jubilee./With the Host hosannas
sing;/I am
born anew to be thy King/On Christmas day, /On Christmas day, /On
Christmas day
in the morning.”
The second Christmas poem in this
volume, “Since Christ Was a Lamb O,” is in the style of a short lyrical
ballad
with repetitions that pronounce blessings upon sheep, children, men,
and Christ
Himself: “Since Christ came to save O,/
To save O,/ To save O, /Since Christ came to save O,/Blessed are we
all.”
In his book The Season of Flesh
published in 1955, are four poems with a
Christmas theme. “As Mary Was a Walking”
which the poet terms “A Carol,” has fifteen stanzas in ballad-style
quatrains
expressing her rapport with fowls, cattle, even trees as she
contemplates the
mission of the Child she bore. The last
chorus asks: “Could any maid
soever,/Could maiden lent the grace,/Hearken such sweet palaver/And not
a bole
embrace?”
“The Gifting” is a four-stanza poem
about the Magi’s gifts, and Mary’s gift of her Son.
“In
[Ethelene Dyer
Jones is a retired educator,
freelance writer, poet, and historian. She may be reached at
e-mail [email protected];
phone 478-453-8751; or mail 1708 Cedarwood Road, Milledgeville, GA
31061-2411.]
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