{"id":16168,"date":"2023-12-24T17:00:20","date_gmt":"2023-12-24T17:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.adoreamy.co.uk\/blog\/?p=16168"},"modified":"2023-12-24T17:04:55","modified_gmt":"2023-12-24T17:04:55","slug":"merry-christmas-to-everyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adoreamy.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/2023\/12\/24\/merry-christmas-to-everyone\/","title":{"rendered":"merry christmas to everyone…"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

Christmas<\/h1>\n

The bells of waiting Advent ring,
\nThe Tortoise stove is lit again
\nAnd lamp-oil light across the night
\nHas caught the streaks of winter rain
\nIn many a stained-glass window sheen
\nFrom Crimson Lake to Hookers Green.<\/p>\n

The holly in the windy hedge
\nAnd round the Manor House the yew
\nWill soon be stripped to deck the ledge,
\nThe altar, font and arch and pew,
\nSo that the villagers can say
\n‘The church looks nice’ on Christmas Day.<\/p>\n

Provincial Public Houses blaze,
\nCorporation tramcars clang,
\nOn lighted tenements I gaze,
\nWhere paper decorations hang,
\nAnd bunting in the red Town Hall
\nSays ‘Merry Christmas to you all’.<\/p>\n

And London shops on Christmas Eve
\nAre strung with silver bells and flowers
\nAs hurrying clerks the City leave
\nTo pigeon-haunted classic towers,
\nAnd marbled clouds go scudding by
\nThe many-steepled London sky.<\/p>\n

And girls in slacks remember Dad,
\nAnd oafish louts remember Mum,
\nAnd sleepless children’s hearts are glad.
\nAnd Christmas-morning bells say ‘Come!’
\nEven to shining ones who dwell
\nSafe in the Dorchester Hotel.<\/p>\n

And is it true?\u00a0 And is it true,
\nThis most tremendous tale of all,
\nSeen in a stained-glass window’s hue,
\nA Baby in an ox’s stall?
\nThe Maker of the stars and sea
\nBecome a Child on earth for me?<\/p>\n

And is it true?\u00a0 For if it is,
\nNo loving fingers tying strings
\nAround those tissued fripperies,
\nThe sweet and silly Christmas things,
\nBath salts and inexpensive scent
\nAnd hideous tie so kindly meant,<\/p>\n

No love that in a family dwells,
\nNo carolling in frosty air,
\nNor all the steeple-shaking bells
\nCan with this single Truth compare –
\nThat God was man in Palestine
\nAnd lives today in Bread and Wine.<\/p>\n

John Betjeman<\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

…and if this publishes when it should I will be in the middle The Sound Of Music on BBC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Christmas 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 sheen From Crimson Lake to Hookers Green. The holly in the windy hedge And round the Manor House the yew Will soon be stripped to deck the ledge, The altar, font and arch and pew, So that the villagers can say ‘The church looks nice’ on Christmas Day. Provincial Public Houses blaze, Corporation tramcars clang, On lighted tenements I gaze, Where paper decorations hang, And bunting in the red Town Hall Says ‘Merry Christmas to you all’. And London shops on Christmas Eve Are strung with silver bells and flowers As hurrying clerks the City leave To pigeon-haunted classic towers, And marbled clouds go scudding by The many-steepled London sky. And girls in slacks remember Dad, And oafish louts remember Mum, And sleepless children’s hearts are glad. And Christmas-morning bells say ‘Come!’ Even to shining ones who dwell Safe in the Dorchester Hotel. And is it true?\u00a0 And is it true, This most tremendous tale of all, Seen in a stained-glass window’s hue, A Baby in an ox’s stall? The Maker of the stars and sea Become a Child on earth for me? And is it true?\u00a0 For if it is, No loving fingers tying strings Around those tissued fripperies, The sweet and silly Christmas things, Bath salts and inexpensive scent And hideous tie so kindly meant, No love that in a family dwells, No carolling in frosty air, Nor all the steeple-shaking bells Can with this single Truth compare – That God was man in Palestine And lives today in Bread and Wine. John Betjeman   …and if this publishes when it should I will be in the middle The Sound Of Music on BBC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-my-diary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adoreamy.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adoreamy.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adoreamy.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adoreamy.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adoreamy.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16168"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.adoreamy.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16185,"href":"https:\/\/www.adoreamy.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16168\/revisions\/16185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adoreamy.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adoreamy.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adoreamy.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}