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Poetry Prompt 16 – Carol Let's Write a December Carol! Okay, don’t groan and don’t shake your head. This prompt will be more flexible than you probably have in mind. First, what is a Carol? In our brains it is probably just the word we use to label any old Christmas song on the radio, but believe it or not, its roots are far from church, and it's not tied to any one religious tradition. My edition of the Harvard Dictionary of Music[1] informs us that 'Carol' derives from the French 'Carole,' which is the name of a circle dance (what we in North America would call a 'square dance'). The author says: "[Caroles were] associated in English with the early pagan dance-songs performed in celebration of the winter solstice, a ritual which later merged with that of Christmas." The author also says Caroles possibly used a poetic structure known as the Virelai, and for our prompt, we shall follow that tip: it's a part-song alternating between a chorus and several verses. So, although Christmas Carols are probably familiar to us, the modern ones in celebration of Nature are probably not. Let's begin by looking at some Carols of this type. Here is Ein Lied hinterm Ofen zu singen, by Matthias Claudius from 1782. Der Winter ist ein rechter Mann, Kernfest und auf die Dauer; Sein Fleisch fühlt sich wie Eisen an, Und scheut nicht süß noch sauer. War je ein Mann gesund wie er? Er krankt und kränkelt nimmer, Er trotzt der Kälte wie ein Bär und schläft im kalten Zimmer. Er zieht sein Hemd im freien an und läßt's vorher nicht wärmen und spottet über Fluß im Zahn und Grimmen in Gedärmen. Aus Blumen und aus Vogelsang weiß er sich nichts zu machen; Haßt warmen Drang und warmen Klang und alle warmen Sachen. Doch wenn die Füchse bellen sehr, wenn's Holz im Ofen knittert, und um den Ofen Knecht und Herr die Hände reibt und zittert; Wenn Stein und Bein vor Frost zerbricht und Teich und Zehen krachen: Das klingt ihm gut, das haßt er nicht, dann will er tot sich lachen.- Sein Schloß von Eis liegt ganz hinaus Beim Nordpol an dem Strande; Doch hat er auch ein Sommerhaus im lieben Schweizerlande. Da ist er denn bald dort, bald hier; gut Regiment zu führen; und wenn er durchzieht, stehen wir und sehn ihn an und frieren.[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJbXQ_oG7hI Structurally, we can see this Carol is made of quatrains, which alternate between a rhyme scheme of a-b-a-b, and c-c-c-c. The 'c' section forms a chorus of sorts for the verses sandwiched above and below it. Being rhymed the same each time gives these middle sections the feeling of a refrain, even though the text is different each time. Here is another example of this type written by Malcolm Sargent, and called the Nature Carol: Coral, amber, pearl and shell, Gifts we gather from summer seas, Find and bind make love the spell, Take our gifts if they charm and please. Aloha! Aloha!, Hanaw, hanaw, aloha! Aloha! Aloha!, Hanaw, hanaw, Aloha! Ruby, onyx, rain and dew, Weave a crown with your jeweled light, Show and know whose world is new, Who is prince of the day and night. Aloha! Aloha!, Hanaw, hanaw, aloha! Aloha! Aloha!, Hanaw, hanaw, Aloha! Meadow, orchard, field and vine. Melon, grape and maize are here, Leaf and sheaf with tendrils twine, Bring your harvests far and near. Aloha! Aloha!, Hanaw, hanaw, aloha! Aloha! Aloha!, Hanaw, hanaw, Aloha! Mountains, flowers, trees and hills, Laugh and sing where His blessings fall, Wind and waves, lagoons and rills, Shout His love who is Lord of all. Aloha! Aloha!, Hanaw, hanaw, aloha! Aloha! Aloha!, Hanaw, hanaw, Aloha![3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdoqZUaVB9w In terms of structure, we again have a verse section made of a quatrain rhymed a-b-a-b. Here the chorus is repeated verbatim and sticks to a simple c-c couplet. That brings us to Charles Dickens (lol), and his A Christmas Carol. The novella has five parts, which he termed as 'Staves.' A Carol for him had five stanzas, and he intended his book to be a joyous song of praise to the Christmas spirit. These types of Carols arose at the beginning of the 18th century and evolved into the Christmas songs we know of today. In fact, one – God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen – is even quoted in A Christmas Carol. As it's a 'perfect' carol to reflect the Christmas aspect of this type of poem, let's look at the lyrics. God rest you, merry gentlemen, Let nothing you dismay For Jesus Christ, our Saviour Was born upon this day, To save us all from Satan's power When we were gone astray. O tidings of comfort and joy, For Jesus Christ, our Saviour was born on Christmas day. In Bethlehem, in Jury, This blessed babe was born And laid within a manger Upon this blessed morn The which his mother Mary Nothing did take in scorn. O tidings of comfort and joy, For Jesus Christ, our Saviour was born on Christmas day. From God our Heavenly Father A blessed Angel came, And unto certain Shepherds Brought tidings of the same, How that in Bethlehem was born The Son of God by name. O tidings of comfort and joy, For Jesus Christ, our Saviour was born on Christmas day. Fear not, then said the Angel, Let nothing you affright, This day is born a Saviour Of virtue, power and might; So frequently to vanquish all The friends of Satan quite. O tidings of comfort and joy, For Jesus Christ, our Saviour was born on Christmas day. The Shepherds at those tidings Rejoiced much in mind, And left their flocks a feeding In tempest, storm and wind, And went to Bethlehem straightway, This blessed babe to find. O tidings of comfort and joy, For Jesus Christ, our Saviour was born on Christmas day.[4] As far as structure goes, this Carol follows the basic lyric pattern we studied earlier: 8-syllable lines followed by 6-syllable ones. This holds true (mostly even in the chorus section). As for rhymes, the poet contented himself with an a-a-a pattern on lines 2, 4 and 6 (thus in the first stanza, we have: dismay; day; astray). So now, if you are contemplating writing one, where do you start? It seems to me the Carol arises from a spiritual place. It's about connection with the natural world around us, or though the heart and soul with the higher power that gives rise to all human emotion. I'd say to relax and take a moment to feel and reflect. Perhaps your Carol will be about the extremes of temperatures this time of year (cold for the northern hemisphere, and hot for the southern). Perhaps your Carol will be about good-fellowship or renewal, which seems to be a common thread through most of the many holidays in this final month of the year. The prompt: write one Carol suitable for the month of December. It can be a Nature-inspired song, or one based on any of the many holidays in the 12th month: Winter Solstice, Saturnalia, Hanukkah, Milad un Nabi, Christmas, Boxing Day, Kwanzaa, New Year's Eve, or even Festivus (for the rest of us).[5] Have fun, but provide a lyric set of stanzas (I'd say about 4 or 5) and a refrain. Use any metre or rhyme scheme you feel is best. -------------------------------------------- [1] 18th printing, 1967, by Willi Apel; pages 122 & 123 [2] Translation kindly provided by Aditus. A Song to Sing by the Fire: The winter is a righteous man, Strong like stone and enduring; His flesh feels like iron, And he does not shy from sweet or sour. Was ever a man as healthy as he? He never suffers nor ails, He braves the cold like a bear and sleeps in cold rooms. He puts on his shirt outside without warming it up first and scoffs at toothache and colics in his intestines. He doesn't care for flowers and birdsongs; He hates warm drinks and warm songs and everything warm. But when the foxes are barking, when wood wrinkles in the stove, and servant and master rub their hands and tremble. When stone and bone break from the frost and ponds and toes crack That sounds good to him, that he does like then he laughs himself to death. His castle of ice is far away near North Pole on the beach; But he also has a summerhouse In our lovely Switzerland. Sometimes he's here, sometimes he's there; to govern over us; and when he passes through, we stand and gaze at him and freeze. [3] Copyright 1960 by Oxford University Press. http://www.joe-offer.com/folkinfo/songs/pdf/674.pdf [4] As printed in Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern, W. B. Sandys, editor; 1833 London [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festivus