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.