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Moon Before Yule

The ashen lantern leavening the sky
Begins in languor to proclaim sublime
Festivity to winter’s weather eye.

The dome of heaven echoes back the chime
Of peals ethereal arising heard
In silver undulations maritime.

Adorning landscapes for the coming Word,
An ice storm spangles flannel drifts of snow;
Large oaken logs blaze up as flames are stirred.

Pine, holly, ivy, fir, and mistletoe
Observe the golden treacle chandelier
Swell sweetly toward its lambent white-hot glow.

Night after night, wise watchers persevere
And view full majesty in revelation
Of still small soulfire parlance year by year.

Pellucid gossamer communication
Of orb with revelers among the birches
Effects mind-warming museful celebration.

A faint “Veni Creator” from bright churches
Illuminates the frosty fields and farms
Where grain lies strewn for bird and squirrel searches.

Beaming the wild hunt on with ghost alarms,
The cold moon shivers to revivify
Her ermine splendor in the young moon’s arms.

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Margaret Coats lives in California.  She holds a Ph.D. in English and American Literature and Language from Harvard University.  She has retired from a career of teaching literature, languages, and writing that included considerable work in homeschooling for her own family and others. 

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37 Responses

  1. Satyananda Sarangi

    Breathtaking imagery! I felt like walking hand in hand
    with Moon through a garden full of snow and sunshine at the same time.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Yes, Satyananda, Moon can be the one who warms the winter scene with the special colors and pleasant brightness of reflected sunlight. Thanks for your comment!

      Reply
  2. Cynthia Erlandson

    “Moon Before Yule” is densely packed with “pellucid” imagery and lovely alliteration. I immediately noticed the beauty of all the “l” sounds in the first two lines. “Shivers to revivify” in the final verse is also beautifully musical. I love “The dome of heaven echoes back the chime” and “Adorning landscapes for the coming Word”. The hymn coming faintly from the churches audibly “illuminates” the entire scene.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Thanks, Cynthia, for mentioning so many effects of sound and image as pleasing. You’re right about my mixing senses when the hymn illuminates the scene. But isn’t that the special property of a night service, when the church is the brightest thing visible, yet seems to add more welcoming brightness when voices waft outside? Best wishes for creating and experiencing some of those Yuletide joys.

      Reply
  3. James Ph. Kotsybar

    Purely musical! Beautiful work!
    I read it aloud — twice, because I first got tongue tied by the lovely alliteration — and found it a delight.
    This is definitely poetry written to be spoken and heard.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Thank you very much! As a singer, I truly value your appreciation of the poem as exceptionally musical.

      Reply
  4. Roy Eugene Peterson

    My admiration for your transcendent writing skills continues to intensify with each poem you share with us. From “silver undulations” to “ermine splendor,” the vivid imagery enthralls and entrances. I remember “lambent” from a previous poem you wrote and added it to my vocabulary. “Golden treacle chandelier” is an inspired phrase for the moon that resonates and teases the sensory taste buds.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Roy, I imagined going through this Yuletide moon’s full cycle–and in that many days, there are variations in appearance to compare to all the features of Christmas celebration. Sweets certainly come to mind, with golden syrup flowing slowly out of a treacle tart. Why not put it overhead? I’m glad you liked the taste!

      Reply
  5. Sally Cook

    Dear Margaret —

    Ermine splendor, indeed ! Ho you must love the moon, as I do.
    A lovely, subtle poem.
    Thank you, Margaret.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      I do love the moon, Sally, and I remember trading moon lore with you after one of your moon poems more than three years ago. Very happy this one pleases you, and thanks for saying so!

      Reply
  6. Joseph S. Salemi

    The richness of diction in this poem is truly dazzling. The line “Of still small soulfire parlance year by year” is a solid knockout, along with “The cold moon shivers to revivify…”

    This is the polar opposite to modernist verbal strangulation.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      I’m so glad you distinguish the “still small soulfire” line. It tries to say what can’t be said about the many small touches to the spirit received under this moon of the year.

      Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Forgot to say I knew you would like “ashen” and “oaken.” Of course there had to be a Yule Log to contribute to the light here. The moon’s “ashen glow” is earthshine–not so much from electricity as from sunlight reflected on the seas. It’s only apparent in the new moon’s earliest crescent phase, which is why the word is in the poem’s first line.

      Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      An almost-full moon and a bright church in a bright townscape! I thank Evan for finding the lovely photo, and thank you, Norma, for the beautiful comment.

      Reply
  8. Paul A. Freeman

    Your imagery and wordplay has built up a vivid, multi-layered picture.

    Thanks for the read, Margaret.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      The moon in your part of the world makes impressive appearances. I’m pleased to know my poem could be vivid in relation to them. Thanks, Paul!

      Reply
  9. Mary Gardner

    “Moon Before Yule” is a lovely work, Margaret. I especially like “the golden treacle chandelier.”

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      What more luscious light for this time of year! Thanks for your comment, Mary.

      Reply
  10. Yael

    This poem has so many unusual words in it, I’m going to have to take a trip through the unabridged English dictionary, which includes the word histories and language origins. Should be interesting, thank you Margaret!

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Thanks for commenting, Yael. The very word “unabridged” suggests a fascinating trip through curious bywords. I’m glad my moon poem has enough intrigue to set you going, but please be home for Christmas!

      Reply
  11. James A. Tweedie

    I add my own admiration for this spell-weaving terza rima. The closing stanza is my favorite, with the middle line rhyming us back to the opening stanza along with the subtle allusion to Diana, goddess of the hunt and personification of the moon–one of her iconic symbols.

    Lovely.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Thank you, James. You discerned the cyclical moon shape: the terza rima doesn’t end with the standard rhyming couplet, but circles back to the first stanza. And there are many allusions here. The “new moon with the old moon in her arms” comes from the Scottish ballad, Sir Patrick Spens.
      The terms refer to a lunar sight you can see as one lunar cycle ends and another begins (search the words and images will come up). Ella Wheeler Wilcox writes a poem on the topic, and has the New Moon appeal to Venus, not Diana. But one of my favorite poems is Ben Jonson’s Hymn to Diana, “Queen and huntress, chaste and fair.” I definitely wanted the folklore motif of the Wild Hunt in this poem. Fast forward to the new millennium for Michael Kamen’s symphonic poem (2000), “New Moon in the Old Moon’s Arms,” and notice that the composer changes the proverbial positions of new and old. It’s modern music, but Kamen tried to go back 1000 years to the Anasazi canyon dwellers for his musical themes! Some of it is played on YouTube by The Phantom Regiment, who typically wear white band uniforms.

      I have no set interpretation of how all this material coalesces in my poem. But it’s there in potentia for any reader to think about and imagine. The moon encompasses this and more, especially the Virgin shining with the reflected light of her Son.

      Reply
  12. Brian A. Yapko

    Margaret, this is a resplendent poem, lush in language, rich in imagery, mystical in mood. Your use of terza rima is a perfect choice, not just for the circular moon-like symbolism it brings to the structure of the poem but for the sense of cycle that is brings as the word “revivify” in the last stanza ties it back to the first stanza.

    As far as the subject-matter as supported by the imagery, there’s a wonderful fusion presented here of pagan and Christian ideas and language. “Soulfire” has an ancient sound to it which is beautiful in this context. We are indeed awaiting the coming Word but so is Nature with its squirrels and birds and even its revelers among the birches and a “museful” celebration. There’s no doubt that your focus is on the birth of Christ – that “veni Creator from bright churches” makes that unambiguous. And yet this is subtle. Your symbolism is “foresty” rather than churchy, it’s mystical rather than biblical, and all focused around extensive moon symbolism which brings this into a place of mystery.

    I’m both enchanted and puzzled by the final reference to “the cold moon” being in the “young moon’s arms” and would love to know your interpretation. I see this as a metaphor for the old moon being reborn – a renewal which ties into the Virgin birth but in terms I’ve never heard before. The cold (old?) moon’s ermine splendor makes me think Mary being held in the arms of Christ rather than the other way around. A fascinating reversal which circles into the cyclic nature of what you have written. But I am not at all confident of my reading.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Brian, thanks for your thoughtful remarks. The cycle is the main structure here, and the subtlety you notice reflects my hope that everyone can take part in the poem’s depiction of recurrence in nature and in life as we grow through it. The title comes from the Venerable Bede (about 700 AD) who gives us “Moon Before Yule” as the traditional name for the lunar cycle associated with Germanic pagan celebrations. We are still Yule revelers who enjoy the beauty of winter weather and trees and evergreens and fire and song–though we add the history and mystery of Advent and Christmas and Hanukah. “Soulfire” is my coinage (it’s not in my Shorter OED). But with it comes the “still small voice” of the Lord heard by Elijah in a passage of the King James Bible. Modern versions make this a murmur or a whisper or “a sound of sheer silence” (NRSV I Kings 19:12). My “still small soulfire parlance” indicates something spoken but nonetheless transcendent.

      About interpretation of the poem’s last two lines, I’ll say again I want any reader to hear what he or she can make of the words, taking into account whatever he or she wishes of their artistic history. But note that for me it’s not the old moon in the new moon’s arms, but the cold moon in the young moon’s arms. There’s a contrast between cold and warm, age and youth, as well as the old/new contrast which is still there. And I’ll stay with “moon” as the thing that changes. The cold moon whose cycle is nearly finished is shivering despite her splendid white ermine fur (associated with royalty). She wants to “revivify” that splendor, giving it and herself new life and youth and warmth in the young moon’s arms. That’s a love image. But the two moons are really one moon seen in different aspects, which is the mystery of the situation. This is what permits varied interpretations. Going into the Christmas quality of the lunar cycle, we could indeed see the birth of the Savior giving new life and warmth and splendor to His Virgin Mother–but we have to admit she actually holds Him as He (imaginatively) holds her. And they are separate persons with a distinct personal relationship. Still, this kind of symbolic logic is rich to contemplate, and shouldn’t be rejected because details are problematic. We can also think of nature’s moon in her next cycle waxing toward fullness and waning to become dim and weak–all the while providing light and joy (and suggesting love) of different levels at different times. It’s difficult to explain, but less difficult to experience.

      Reply
  13. Daniel Kemper

    Whoever said a picture is worth a thousand words never read a poem like this. I think it maybe the reverse. Dr. Salemi got to my favorite line first, “The cold moon shivers to revivify…”

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Daniel, thank you for that great compliment. And for mentioning your favorite line; I love it, too, but partly because it can say so much in different ways. As I’ve already struggled to put some in prose to James Tweedie and Brian Yapko, please look there–or just weave out your own wonders with it!

      Reply
  14. Stephen Dickey

    I can’t add to the comments above. I would just point out that this is one of those cases where the poem is too good for the accompanying image, which I find distracting and scroll it out as a reread it.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Thanks for the re-reading, Stephen! It’s true that the beautiful picture really only corresponds to one line. This poem goes through the Cold Moon or Moon Before Yule cycle in increments of a half-phase (three and a half days) per stanza, so the scene keeps changing. I told Evan when submitting not to begin before the December 12 new moon, and he gave me that earliest possible date!

      Reply
  15. Hari Hyde

    This dazzling poem moves in a measured march the way music does, for the reader’s rendezvous with “the coming Word.” The dynamic verbs feel like flashing beacons in the darkness. I felt like I was there.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      It is a kind of procession, with the moon dazzling the darkness, and leading onward like a beacon. Thank you so much, Hari, for this vivid comment. You give me the happiness of knowing what my writing (assisted by the Word) could do.

      Reply
  16. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    Margaret, I am drawn to the mysteries of the moon and can’t resist a good moon poem. Your poem is full of sensual and beautiful images that glow with warmth and wonder. I especially like that “golden treacle chandelier” and the hot blaze of those “oaken logs”… but it’s the marriage of the word “shivers” with “revivify” that has caught my ear and eye… an aural marvel that echoes the sound of chattering teeth.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Thank you, Susan, for liking that expression and for explaining why. I’ve forgotten to mention so far that “Cold Moon” is an American Indian name for Bede’s “Moon Before Yule,” and the descriptive adjective “cold” surely suggests a physical response of shivering–especially at the end of this 29-day cycle of coldness! Shivering is supposed to help a person warm up just a bit, and the word “revivify” adds “v’s” to keep the heat coming, but I was most fortunate to think of the proverbial “new moon’s arms” as a better wrap than ermine.

      Reply
  17. Monika Cooper

    This seems to me almost like a series of haiku in terza rima form. The rhymes link the three-line units, each to each, but each stanza is also end-stopped and complete in itself. A progression of eight nights is tied together by a solitary luminous presence.

    I love what the word “maritime” is doing there and hear the silvery touch of a pun: “the time came for her to be delivered.”

    “Golden treacle chandelier” evoked an exquisitely cozy dining room interior on early readings, especially accompanied by all the Christmas greenery. Later I wondered: can it really be the moon? Where did my room go?

    There’s an interior-exterior contrast and tension throughout: one of winter’s great charms.

    I’ve never quite understood what it means for the old (in this case “the cold”) moon to hold the new moon in her arms. Does the thin crescent of the waning moon form the “arms” in which the larger dark circle of the new moon is held?

    What you say in comments above about the moon cycles overlapping each other makes me think of the overlapping Christmas and Easter cycles in the Church year. And I’m thrilled to be reminded of the Ben Jonson poem, which I love too, but hadn’t thought of for a long time.

    Reply
  18. Margaret Coats

    Monika, your reading of “maritime” as a pun is brilliant. I hadn’t thought of it, though I used to read Vulgate references to “maria” (the seas) as speaking of Maria. The accents are on different syllables, but that only focuses the wonder of the sounds.

    I see what you mean about the chandelier. I had thought of stanza 4 as an outdoor scene, but we bring Advent greenery and lights indoors. “Swells sweetly” shows the golden treacle to be the moon at the waxing gibbous phase, to be full in the following stanza.

    Visualizing one moon in the arms of another is quite a mental feat–but it’s been a proverbial expression for centuries at least. Usually (as here) it’s the old moon in the new moon’s arms (my “cold” moon in the “young” moon’s arms). The new or young moon is what appears as a tiny crescent, yet a slight glow around the mostly dark moon makes the spherical shape perceptible. The dark part of the shape is the old moon, in my poem hoping to revivify her ermine splendor–which does happen in the course of the coming month.

    Thank you for your attentive reading and comments. It does often happen that the Christmas and Easter liturgical cycles overlap because Easter is determined by the moon, and Christmas happens on a solar date. And these are constantly changing in relation to one another. In 2024 the overlap will be 6 days starting on January 28.

    Merry museful Christmas to you and yours!

    Reply
  19. Tom Rimer

    Coming late to this poem (which can be blamed on various adventures with our grandson) I see many readers have preceded me. I must confess that I read (and then re-read aloud) the poem for its beautiful musicality without probing the text for literary references, so many of which have been pointed out by others.

    But isn’t that a sign of the great beauty and depth of the poem? It succeeds entirely on its own, as it creates this still and vibrant moment in a holy time.

    This is a text that truly should be set to music, and a lovely Christmas gift to every reader who is fortunate to encounter it.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Tom, thank you for taking time to comment at this busy season. I very much appreciate your judgment on the poem’s beauty and depth. “Still and vibrant moment in a holy time” is a wonderful way to say what a poem can be. Merry Christmas to you and Laurence and all your family and friends.

      Reply

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