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Subscribe for more poetry readings. Please consider supporting me on Patreon. As a patron, you'll gain access to at least three exclusive videos every week, ...
- 3 min
- 860
- Arthur L Wood
A Merry Christmas to one and all! Read by the author - former Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom. Here Sir John Betjeman invites us to share his wit and his deeply Christian sentiment....
- 6 min
- 88.1K
- AntPDC
A simple video of John Betjeman's wonderful and evocative poem Christmas read by the inimitable Sir Alec Guinness with seasonal images.
- Summary
- Poetic Techniques
- Analysis of Christmas
The poem begins with the speaker describing the lead-up to Christmas and how everything in a church is decorated for Advent. These images start the poem on a cozy and familiar note. The speaker’s tone is calm and peaceful, he is simply taking in the Christmas imagery. Time progresses, and the speaker moves on to examine the village itself. There ar...
Betjeman makes use of a number of different poetic techniques within ‘Christmas.’ The lines are filled with examples of consonance, assonance, anaphora, alliteration, and more. The repetitionin the poem is one of its most notable features. This can be seen through the use of anaphora, or the use and reuse of a word or phrase at the beginning of mul...
Stanza One
In the first stanza of ‘Christmas’ the speaker begins by describing the setting. He states that it is Advent time, or somewhere in the twenty-four days before Christmas. There is a particular stove in the scene, a “Tortoise stove.” This is not a common household item nowadays but in the mid-1800s into the 1900s it was quite popular. This was due to its ability to burn fuel over a long period of time. It comes to be known in the next lines that the speaker is located within a church. When he l...
Stanza Two
In the second stanza, the speaker describes what is outside the church. There is a great deal of “holly” that he knows that this will soon be used, It runs all the way around the “Manor House” and perhaps as is tradition, they are going to use it to cover as many surfaces in the church as is appropriate.It is the goal of the decorators and those who work in the church that the villagers say that the church looks especially nice on Christmas.
Stanza Three
In the third stanza, the speaker moves into the village. He describes the “Provincial Public Houses” and how they “blaze.” The speaker also shifts to the first person, placing himself in the scene and allowing a more intimate look into the town. At this point, there has been no elaboration on the location of the village. It seems to be a cozy place though, one that any number of people could relate to. When he looks around him he can see “lighted tenements.” He gazes at them and on the “paper...
- Female
- October 9, 1995
- Poetry Analyst And Editor
Analysis (ai): This poem depicts the traditional Christmas season across various settings. It begins with the advent of winter and the preparations for the holiday in churches and homes. The poet then shifts to scenes of urban life, capturing the hustle and bustle of Christmas Eve in London.
Betjeman's poem 'Christmas' discusses the British traditions of Advent and Christmas and makes certain social and religious inquiries. Let's take a look at the full poem now. Betjeman is also known as the man who saved London's St Pancras train station.
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Christmas Lyrics. The bells of waiting Advent ring, The Tortoise stove is lit again. And lamp-oil light across the night. Has caught the streaks of winter rain. In many a stained-glass window ...
