Given, not lent,
And not withdrawn - once sent,
This Infant of mankind, this One,
Is still the little welcome Son.

Even as the cold
Keen winter grows not old,
As childhood is so fresh, foreseen,
And spring in the familiar green -

Sudden as sweet
Come the expected feet.
All joy is young, and new all art,
And He, too, Whom we have by heart.

Words: Alice Meynell (1847-1922)
Music: Richard Rodney Bennett ( b. 1936)


Anthem sung this morning in Canterbury Cathedral by the Cathedral choir.
A blessed Christmas to you all!