Over the millennia, mistletoe has been a symbol of romance and fertility.
Since the 18th century or earlier, it’s been used as a Christmas decoration, hung from above… and if a man and a woman should happen to find each other together under the mistletoe, they have to kiss!
Here you can read a poem by Walter de la Mare that evokes the romance and mystery of mistletoe. You can also listen along with the recording…
Mistletoe
Sitting under the mistletoe
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
One last candle burning low,
All the sleepy dancers gone,
Just one candle burning on,
Shadows lurking everywhere:
Some one came, and kissed me there.
Tired I was; my head would go
Nodding under the mistletoe
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
No footsteps came, no voice, but only,
Just as I sat there, sleepy, lonely,
Stooped in the still and shadowy air
Lips unseen—and kissed me there.
Recording by Winston Tharp
Photo of Mistletoe: Wikipedia
This article was posted on Monday, December 19th, 2011 at 2:44 pm and is filed under Christmas, Christmas Poems, Countries & Cultures, Customs and Traditions, England, English, Holidays Around the World, Languages, Mistletoe, Poems, Poetry, Poets, Recordings, Recordings of Poems, USA, Walter de la Mare. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
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