On the Morning of Christ's Nativity facts for kids

On the Morning of Christ's Nativity is a famous poem written by John Milton in 1629. It was published in his book Poems of Mr. John Milton in 1645. The poem talks about the birth of Jesus Christ and how his coming changed the world. It also connects his birth to his later sacrifice on the cross.

Why Milton Wrote This Poem

John Milton wrote On the Morning of Christ's Nativity in December 1629. He wrote it to celebrate Christmas and because he had reached adulthood in England. This poem shows Milton's serious and thoughtful way of life. At this time, Milton based his religious ideas on the Bible, but he was also interested in old myths.

Even though this poem was the first one in Milton's 1645 collection, it wasn't the very first poem he ever wrote. Many of his poems in Latin and Greek were written earlier. The poem's important place at the beginning of the book likely shows that Milton thought it was one of his best works.

How the Poem Is Structured

The poem has two main parts. It starts with a short introduction of four stanzas. After that comes "The Hymn," which is the main part of the poem with 27 stanzas.

The Introduction Stanzas

Each stanza in the introduction has seven lines. Most lines have a rhythm called iambic pentameter. This means each line has ten syllables, with a pattern of unstressed and stressed sounds. The rhyme scheme for these lines is ABABB. The last two lines of each stanza rhyme with each other, forming a couplet. The very last line of each stanza is longer, with twelve syllables.

Here is an example of the first stanza:

"This is the month, and this the happy morn / Wherein the Son of Heav'n's eternal King, / Of wedded maid, and virgin mother born, / Our great redemption from above did bring; / For so the holy sages once did sing, / That he our deadly forfeit should release, / And with his Father work us a perpetual peace."

The Hymn Stanzas

The stanzas in "The Hymn" section each have eight lines. They also follow a rhythm called iambic meter. Like the introduction, the last two lines of each hymn stanza rhyme. The second to last line has eight syllables, and the very last line has twelve syllables. The first six lines of each stanza are split into two groups of three lines. These groups follow a rhyme scheme of AABCCB. The first two lines of each three-line group are shorter, with six syllables, and the third line has ten syllables.

Here is an example of the first stanza from "The Hymn":

"It was the winter wild, / While the Heav'n-born-child, / All meanly wrapped in the rude manger lies; / Nature in awe to him / had doffed her gaudy trim / With her great master so to sympathize: / It was no season then for her / To wanton with the sun her lusty paramour."

Main Ideas in the Poem

The poem explores the birth of Christ and his becoming human. Milton believed these two events were deeply connected. In Milton's poems, Christ's birth and his sacrifice on the cross show his main purpose. Christ became human at his birth to save people, and humanity is saved when he sacrifices himself. Milton also connects Christ's birth to the creation of the world. This idea is explored more in his later famous poem, Paradise Lost. The poem also describes a narrator who feels like they are experiencing the Nativity story themselves.

The Poem in Music

This poem has inspired many musicians to create their own works:

• In 1928, Cyril Rootham, a composer from Cambridge, created the first full musical setting of Milton's Ode. It was written for solo singers, a chorus, a semi-chorus, and an orchestra.
• Parts of the poem are used in Ralph Vaughan Williams' Christmas music piece, Hodie, which was composed in 1954.
• Stanza 13 from "The Hymn" part of the poem was set to music by Stephen Paulus. It is the second movement, "Ring Out! Ye Crystal Spheres," in his 1990 work called "Canticum Novum."
• John Blackwood McEwen also composed a piece called Hymn on the Morning of Christ's Nativity in 1905. It is an ode for a soprano singer, a chorus, and an orchestra.