Just for the record, this is my favourite classic Christmas carol:
Good King Wenceslas looked out on the feast of Stephen,
When the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even;
Brightly shone the moon that night, tho’ the frost was cruel,
When a poor man came in sight gath’ring winter fuel.“Hither, page, and stand by me, if thou know’st, telling,
Yonder peasant, who is he? Where and what his dwelling?”
“Sire, he lives a good league hence, underneath the mountain;
Right against the forest fence, by Saint Agnes’ fountain.”“Bring me flesh, and bring me wine, bring me pine logs hither:
Thou and I will see him dine, when we bear them thither.”
Page and monarch, forth they went, forth they went together;
Through the rude wind’s wild lament and the bitter weather.“Sire, the night is darker now, and the wind blows stronger;
Fails my heart, I know not how, I can go no longer.”
“Mark my footsteps, my good page. Tread thou in them boldly:
Thou shalt find the winter’s rage freeze thy blood less coldly.”In his master’s steps he trod, where the snow lay dinted;
Heat was in the very sod which the saint had printed.
Therefore, Christian men, be sure, wealth or rank possessing,
Ye who now will bless the poor, shall yourselves find blessing.
As far as I’m concerned, that captures everything good about the holiday season, and I can gloss right over the religious bits. Hell, replace the word ‘Christian’ in that second last line with something broader and it works just as well; with the caveat that the blessings you find are a little more subtle than favours from Sky Daddy. Note also that the last two lines are not specific to the holiday season–that sentiment is valid all year, not just once a year.
I’ve never found a recording of this that lives up to it’s potential. I sometimes fantasize about a version with Johnny Cash singing the narration, Paul Robeson singing the King’s lines, and oh… say Margo Timmins doing the page’s lines. You know, with an epic backing arrangement–not frilly stuff, or too many bells, but a powerful river of music behind the voices.
Or maybe just an a capella version by Aengus Finnan. Yeah, that’d be fine too.
