Christmas poems for children

There are many brilliant Christmas poems for children from past and present, but here are a few of my all-time favourites.

‘A Visit From St Nicholas’ by Clement Clark Moore

‘'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.’

Written in 1823 and originally titled ‘A Christmas Poem’, Clement Clark Moore’s enchanting Christmas verse has become a classic. The rhythms and rhymes create a playful tone, capturing the excitement of children on the magical eve of Christmas.

 

‘Another Night Before Christmas’ by Carol Ann Duffy

'On the night before Christmas,

A child in a house,

As the whole family slept,

Behaved just like a mouse ... ' 

‘Another Night before Christmas’ is a contemporary reworking of Moore’s famous poem. Like Moore, Duffy’s tone captures the excitement and anticipation of a child waiting for Christmas to arrive. All the original elements of the poem remain, but Duffy twists them in a new, more modern way.

‘Christmas Bells’ by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

‘I heard the bells on Christmas Day

Their old, familiar carols play.’

Though originally written as a poem, the verses were set to music early on and it became part of the Christmas carol canon. Many composers have sought to invent their own tunes but the two most famous are the hymnal version first used in the 1870s and the popular version written in the 1950s by Johnny Marks. The lyrics are packed with Christmas cheer and the ringing of the bells is reflected in the joyful nature of the carol music.

‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ by Dr. Seuss

‘Every Who Down in Whoville Liked Christmas a lot...But the Grinch, Who lived just north of Whoville, Did NOT!’

For those who haven’t read the poem before, or seen the film, How the Grinch Stole Christmas tells the tale of a character who hates Christmas so much that he decides to steal it. Packed with funny rhymes and illustrations, the poem has been an absolute favourite amongst children for nearly 70 years!

‘King John’s Christmas’ by A. A. Milne

‘King John was not a good man

--He had his little ways.

And sometimes no one spoke to him

For days and days and days.’

Milne’s playful poem has delighted children and adults alike for decades. It appeared in the first edition of Milne’s 1927 publication, Now We Are Six. In the poem, a melancholy King John expresses his desire for a ‘big, red, india-rubber ball which no one will give him on the basis that he is ‘not a good man’. The poem is loosely based on the real King John, also known as John lackland, who was King of England from 1199 to 1216. He is best known for signing the Magna Carta in 1215 but history and literature often present him as quite the scoundrel.

‘Love Came Down at Christmas’ by Christina Rosetti

‘Love came down at Christmas,

Love all lovely, love divine;

Love was born at Christmas,

Star and angels gave the sign.’

This beautiful poem was originally published without a title, appearing in Time Flies: A reading Diary in 1885. The poem has been set to music by a variety of composers, though is not nearly as famous as Rosetti’s poem ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’, published some years earlier in 1872. It is a lovely little poem which celebrates the birth of Jesus and divine love.

‘Noel’ by J. R. R. Tolkien

‘Grim was the world and grey last night:

The moon and stars were fled,

The hall was dark without song or light,

The fires were fallen dead.’

Tolkien is best known for his major fantasy novels, including The Hobbit and The Lords of the Rings trilogy. He also wrote short stories however, such as The Father Christmas Letters, and several well-known poems. Compared to the other verses on this list, ‘Noel’ is somewhat dark in tone. It depicts the bleakness of winter before the birth of Christ but then suddenly floods with light as he descends to earth. Though religious in nature, the rhyming lines and beautiful descriptions also appeal to the younger reader.

‘The First Christmas’ by Marianne Swinger

‘It never snows at Christmas in that dry and dusty land.Instead of freezing blizzards, there are palms and drifting sands…’

This poem is not set in the idyllic, snowy fields of England but in Bethlehem, where Christ was born ‘two thousand years ago’. The poem is filled with beautiful imagery and captures the magic and wonder of that first Christmas.

‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ by Anon

‘On the First day of Christmas my true love sent to me

a Partridge in a Pear Tree.’

Today, this poem is a popular Christmas carol, sung with vigour at Christmas concerts and parties. The poem is thought to have French origins and was first published in England in 1780. Filled with rhyming couplets, the poem (now carol) is great fun to recite or sing. The challenge is to try and remember the order of the verses!

These are just a few of the many Christmas poems published for children. If you know of one that hasn’t been mentioned here, please comment with the title and poet! I’d love to hear your choices.