This piece was written by Daniel Pinkham (1923-2006) and Robert Hillyer (1895-1961). Hillyer taught at my undergraduate alma mater, the University of Delaware, from 1952 until his death. Coincidentally, Hillyer died at the age of 66 on 24 December 1961. (On a personal note both Pinkham and Hillyer are distant paternal cousins.)
I think of this short and bittersweet song (1 minute 51 seconds) every holiday season and other times throughout the year. I was first introduced to Christmas Eve by the choirmaster at a church in Delaware where I used to sing. Shortly before the Christmas Eve service, the pastor decided to nix it because he thought it was too negative, i.e., it touches on poverty as a feature of social and economic inequality.
This year, I think of the ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the murder and abuse of Palestinians in the West Bank, which is where Bethlehem is located, and elsewhere.
The snow lies crisp beneath the stars,
On roofs and on the ground.
Late footsteps crunch along the paths,
There is no other sound.
So cold it is the roadside trees
Snap in the rigid frost,
A dreadful night to think on them,
The homeless and the lost.
The dead sleep shelter’d in the tomb,
The rich drink in the hall.
The Virgin and the Holy Child Lie shivering in a stall.
Here’s an audio version I was fortunate to find on YouTube.
Merry Christmas from Vietnam!
An International Educator in Vietnam 