The Shortest Day
by Susan Cooper
And so the Shortest Day came and the year died
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.
And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, revelling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us – listen!
All the long echoes, sing the same delight,
This Shortest Day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And now so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.
Welcome, Yule!
(Audience responds: Welcome, Yule!)
Okay, so I missed posting this on the solstice, proper. The sentiment remains true. Susan Cooper (yes, the author of The Dark is Rising series!) wrote this poem especially for the Christmas Revels, a holiday treat celebrated in cities around the US that features traditions from a different country each year. “The Shortest Day” is one of the elements that is part of every production.
As the light returns,
May you gather it to you
With joy.
Happy holidays to you and yours!
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