In the Bleak Midwinter is a Christmas carol based on a poem by the English poet Christina Rossetti. The poem was published under the title « A Christmas Carol », in the January 1872 issue of Scribner’s Monthly. It first appeared set to music in The English Hymnal of 1906 with a setting by Gustav Holst. In the Bleak Midwinter has been a staple of Canadian Christmas carol services for decades. It is in stark contrast to most other Christmas songs and carols, being simple and sombre in tone with a focus on the birth of Jesus Christ. The carol features many images we associate with the nativity: the manger, a stable, angels, livestock, and the Wise Men. Its popularity is attributed to its place in the experiences of the troops returning to Canada after WW I where it had become a feature of Christmas celebrations in the trenches. The meanings of the words lie in their humble simplicity; the manger stood in a bleak midwinter’s night and is enough for the baby Jesus. This carol doesn’t shout from the rooftops about Christmas cheer; instead, it focuses on the simplest yet truest gift of all, love.