Which poet wrote the words to 'In the Bleak Midwinter'?

Christina Rossetti wrote the words to “In the Bleak Midwinter.” The poem first appeared as “A Christmas Carol” in the January 1872 issue of Scribner’s Monthly, before being collected in book form in 1875.

Rossetti’s text describes the Nativity through wintry imagery, a humble stable, Mary’s tenderness and the contrast between Christ’s birth and his expected second coming. Although Bethlehem’s climate is not normally associated with severe snow, some commentators read the winter setting as poetic or spiritual imagery rather than literal weather.

The words became widely known as a carol after composers supplied musical settings. Gustav Holst wrote the familiar hymn tune “Cranham” for The English Hymnal in 1906, while Harold Darke created another important setting in 1909. These composers wrote the music, not the original words.

A common mix-up is to credit the carol to Holst or Darke because their melodies are so familiar. Rossetti was the poet; the song’s best-known musical versions came later.