Christmas Season
Christmas...
Comes once a year
All Christians everywhere
Celebrate the Nativity
A Christian festival with lots of cheer
That bring the dawn of a New Year
And humanity flows
From the soul at
Christmas...
Colors alight
And lots of jingle bells
We sing carols both old and new
Which we all wish would last throughout
the year
As we nurture folks who are poor
To grow with pride and much
Glad tidings at
Christmas...
Comes after Eve
When busy crowds subside
And the malls become deserted
Turkeys' necks have all been cut with
the ducks
And the chickens no longer cluck.
Under the mistletoe
Folks shout: Merry
Christmas...
Is in the air
With lots of laughter too
Presents all wrapped with pretty bows
Now sit beneath the lighted Christmas
tree
With tiny ornaments that dance
To jolly Santa's laugh
Oh! Ho! Merry
Christmas...
Trees shine brightly
To help us find our way
And in the air the church bells ring
To tell us, it is time for midnight
mass.
We hear voices in the choir
Blend sweet soprano, bass
And tenor at
Christmas...
Rich and poor mix
In unison they sing
The glorious songs of the Yule
To families and neighbors far and near
Are but some of the good tidings
Of love to all mankind
That folks share at
Christmas...
(December
2003)
Genre: Seasonal Poem
Form: Rictameter
Tags: metrical feet, nativity, season, syllabic
count
“Christmas Season” falls into the
category of a seasonal poem. It uses imagery to depict a particular season
celebrating the nativity with lots of goodwill and cheer. Season in its broad
sense is a time characterized by a particular circumstance or feature of nature
in all its various dimensions. The Christmas Season highlights the Nativity of
Jesus Christ or the birth of Christ as it appears in the gospel of Matthew and
Luke in the New Testament section of the Holy Bible. The Christmas Season does
not mean a single day. It is a period in which Christians enter more deeply
into the mystery of the One who came to earth as one of us to save us from our
sins. The combination of Advent, Christmastide and Yuletide are synonymous with
the Christmas Season. Advent is the period from Advent Sunday through the start
of Epiphany. It starts on November 30 (Saint Andrew’s Day) or the nearest
Sunday to it. It is the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day (December 25). In
its broadest term, Advent means the first or the expected second coming of
Jesus Christ. In the Christian Church, it is the period or season between
Advent Sunday and Christmas. Christmas is a widely celebrated festival
commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, and incorporates various Christian,
pre-Christian and secular customs. Christmastide is synonymous with Christmas
Season, the Twelve Days of Christmas and Yuletide.
The structure of the “Christmas
Season” poem is like climbing a hill the poem’s base structure starts at one
foot (two syllables) and gradually increases the foot to reach the peak at five
feet (10 syllables); descends by decreasing each step by one foot to return to
the base as shown in the Rictameter graphic below.
The Rictameter graphic portrays the metrical feet use in creating the Rictameter poem. The unit of measurement in poetry is called a metrical foot, which is a set of syllables, usually two or three with only one receiving a stress. A metrical foot is made up of a particular pattern of stress and unstressed syllables. Bear mind the every syllable has a vowel and when that vowel is stressed the syllable automatically becomes stressed; when the vowel is unstressed the syllable is unstressed as well. The Rictameter is made up of nine lines and each line has a specific syllabic count as shown in Table 27. Notice too, how each syllabic count measures a specific metrical foot.
Table
27
Rictameter Grid
|
||
Lines
|
Syllables
|
Syllable
Measurement
|
1
|
2
|
1 foot
|
2
|
4
|
2 feet
|
3
|
6
|
3 feet
|
4
|
8
|
4 feet
|
5
|
10
|
5 feet
|
6
|
8
|
4 feet
|
7
|
6
|
3 feet
|
8
|
4
|
2 feet
|
9
|
2
|
1 foot
|
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