Let Us the Solstice Greet (Let Us The Infant Greet)

 Let Us the Solstice Greet (Let Us The Infant Greet) 

This hymn has been printed in Antient Carols for Christmas and Other Tides Arranged For Four Voices by Edmund Sedding. Second Edition. (London: Masters and Son, 1863) www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/  

Some songs focus on what is beautiful in winter. Other songs focus on what is difficult about winter. I struggle with the many hours of darkness, though this struggle lessens with each year as I work though these feelings. The cold and the darkness are non-negotiable parts of the season, and working on these songs has been an important part of this work! I would never want to give up my four seasons; being in Connecticut makes them all very distinct from one another. I’m grateful for them, even as winter provides challenges with its long nights, cold temperatures, and heating bills. Another Loreena McKennitt fave. 

 

Let us the solstice greet, 
After colorful leaves did fall, 
And let us sing of winter sweet, 
On this its Festival. 

 

Let us to the winter sing, 

And enjoy its chills galore, 

And let us honor the snowy scene 

With praise for evermore. 

 

Let us to the darkness kneel, 
And love the blanket dark, 
And let our joyous anthems peal, 
To maintain our inner spark. 

 

Glad hymns of the frosted land, 
Sing to it while we may, 
The earth deserves our thoughtful stand, 
Our service we must pay. 

 

Be we to the seasons true, 
While we are dwelling on earth 
This crystal kingdom of icy hue, 
And its Counterpart, spring's rebirth