Poem of the Week
PotW.org
Founded August 1996
<   PotW #355   >
This Week's Poem

Past Poems...
...by Poet
...by Title and First Line
...by Occasion

Contact about...
...Free Subscription
...Submitting a Poem
...other Questions

The Fine Print...
...Copyright Information
...Page Mission
...Privacy Policy

Links to...
...other Poetry Sites


 

 

       Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932)

          from The Wind in the Willows

                          CAROL

    Villagers all, this frosty tide,
    Let your doors swing open wide,
    Though wind may follow, and snow beside,
    Yet draw us in by your fire to bide;
              Joy shall be yours in the morning!

    Here we stand in the cold and the sleet,
    Blowing fingers and stamping feet,
    Come from far away you to greet—
    You by the fire and we in the street—
              Bidding you joy in the morning!

    For ere one half of the night was gone,
    Sudden a star has led us on,
    Raining bliss and benison—
    Bliss to-morrow and more anon,
              Joy for every morning!

    Goodman Joseph toiled through the snow—
    Saw the star o'er a stable low;
    Mary she might not further go—
    Welcome thatch, and litter below!
              Joy was hers in the morning!

    And then they heard the angels tell
    'Who were the first to cry NOWELL?
    Animals all, as it befell,
    In the stable where they did dwell!
              Joy shall be theirs in the morning!'

 


The above carol appears in chapter five of The Wind in the Willows where it is sung by the field-mice to Mole and Rat.
  • Grahame, Kenneth. The Wind in the Willows. New York: Charles Scriber's Sons, 1908.

    It can also be found in:

  • Harrington, Mildred P., and Josephine H. Thomas, eds. Our Holidays in Poetry. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1938.