Songfacts®:

• This was written by the Victorian age English poet Christina Rossetti. Even though Christina lived much of her life with little money, poor health and unattained goals (she was engaged twice but never married because of religious differences), she developed an amazing serenity and cheerfulness. This can only be explained by her Christian faith, she was a high church Anglican. While these trials inclined her to melancholy, they did not hinder her creativity nor interrupt her writing, she was already writing poetry at the age of 12. Later she published several collections of poems including some aimed at children. Several of her poems, including this, have become Christmas carols. This describes the nativity scene in terms of the chilly English countryside. Later the noted English composer Gustav Holst set it to music. >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England