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Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without any… poems!
Monday 1st December 2025
Candlestick Press
What makes a good Christmas poem? Here at Candlestick we think we have a fairly good idea, having published no fewer than 21 festive titles containing poems old and new on a huge range of seasonal themes. Our brand new title for this year is Christmas Tree: Ten Poems of Wishes and Light. In its pages you’ll find poems celebrating the much-loved tradition of decorating a tree and bringing the light indoors at the darkest time of the year.
It goes without saying that all our pamphlets have a gorgeous cover that’s every bit as beautiful as a Christmas card. We supply a bookmark for your personal message and an eco-envelope to put the pamphlet and bookmark into, and there’s also a sticker to seal the back of the envelope with an extra flourish! All you’ll need is a Large Letter stamp and your personalised poetry gift will be on its way.
Christmas movies, presents, walks and music all make an appearance in our range, alongside celebrations of chilly winter weather (Ten Poems about Snow) and that much-loved winter bird, the robin (Ten Poems about Robins). There are also plenty of titles (such as Christmas Together and Christmas Spirit) that reflect the joy of sharing precious times with family and friends. As Lorraine Mariner says in her tender poem ‘Christmas Pudding’:
“I will try not to look
at the pudding’s blue flame but the faces
gathered and lit around the table.”from ‘Christmas Pudding’ by Lorraine Mariner from Christmas Together
Of course, ’tis also the season of ghost stories. Sean O’Brien’s enigmatic Holly and Ivy is guaranteed to prompt a festive shiver or two. (Best read by a fire with the lights low and a glass of something warming to hand.) Not at all spooky is our other festive short story Gift of the Old One about the importance of loyalty, family and love, especially at Christmas. This fully illustrated charming tale features an elderly couple and their cherished herd of goats, with enduring themes of constancy, youth and age:
“… and his arm stole defensively about the Old One’s neck as he drew her to him and rubbed her gently behind the ears. He replied softly, “We keep her because of love. Only because of love.”
from ‘Gift of the Old One’ by Eunice Day
“… and his arm stole defensively about the Old
One’s neck as he drew her to him and rubbed her gently
behind the ears. He replied softly, “We keep her because of
love. Only because of love.”from ‘Gift of the Old One’ by Eunice Day
Ask people about their favourite Christmas poem, and certain ‘usual suspects’ will arise – most often perhaps ‘The Night before Christmas’ (correct title ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’) with its jolly rhymes (belly/jelly) and heart-warming narrative. It was written in the 19th century by American poet Clement Clarke Moore for his own children (he had nine).
We like to think our pamphlet By Bus to Christmas – by the Irish poet Tony Curtis – contains poems that are every bit as irresistible as Moore’s classic. The title poem about a journey to Christmas Day will delight every child (not to mention many a tender hearted grown-up) with its humour and sense of anticipation:
“This year I am going by bus to Christmas.
Last year I went by hippopotamus.
It was slow and grey
and kept losing its way.
So this year I am going by bus to Christmas.”from ‘By Bus to Christmas’ by Tony Curtis
One of the loveliest of all Christmas poems is best known as a carol. Christina Rossetti wrote ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ in 1872 and it was first set to music in 1906 by Gustav Holst. We have a whole host of titles that revel in the beauty of the natural world in winter.
Christmas Garland contains poems about building a snow-child and a love poem in which Father Christmas walks across frozen fields, carrying on his back “the hopes / of our life”. Meanwhile, Christmas Walk takes us out into hills, parks and city streets to find moments of peace and delight. In Annie Kissack’s poem, a walk involves gathering winter greenery to decorate the house:
“Deck the halls! Fa la la! Back we are staggering,
ivy is swaggering, here comes the gathering,
brownery, greenery strutting their finery,
up in the gallery minstrels play”from ‘Winter Gathering’ by Annie Kissack from Christmas Walk
For lovers of prose The Wood in Winter by John Lewis-Stempel is a piece of lyrical nature writing about a woodland at the coldest time of the year, tying in old festivals and traditions. Lewis-Stempel describes how close encounters with the animals who thrive in this hard season can remind us of our own deep connection to the earth:
“A wood on a winter’s eve, no matter where you are, when the snow is falling through the trees, is existence stripped back to the elements. It is the Ice Age returned in miniature.”
from The Wood in Winter by John Lewis-Stempel
To whet your appetite and put you in the mood for a beautifully poetic Christmas, what better way to end than with some evocative lines from Valerie Bence’s Christmas Walk poem ‘A low owl at Christmas’:
“Mitten muffled we kris-kringled our way
breath watching and laughing with dancing candles.”from ‘A low owl at Christmas’ by Valerie Bence from Christmas Walk
We hope you find something to make Christmas extra special within our extensive festive range – you can find more details here: