Christmassy Thoughts

What is it that actually turns the time before christmas into the famous "Vorweihnachtszeit"? Having been in England last year, I decided that this term specifies something which is particularly German.

The first and foremost thing is the following: The English do not have proper christmas markets! I found this to be essentially missing when strolling the streets of London. Of course the Londoners, being very cosmopolitan and so on, try to simulate christmas markets. But to be honest: Every atmospheric thing there was imported from Germany. Seriously, you could have "Bratwurst" and "Glühwein" but it didn't feel right.

So I asked myself the question: What is so special about our German pre-crhistmas period. (Even the English word sounds odd...)

First of all there are the candles. Connected with the tradition of the Advent, they create a thoroughly peaceful atmosphere. They make you sit down, look at the warm light and relax for a moment. There are certainly more candles in german houses during December and I am convinced that there is a more peaceful atmosphere due to that.

And even in the streets you can find the lights. Of course it is not candles there - that would not be very reasonable with the winter weather conditions. But you can find various kinds of decorations (including an enormous amount of lights) above the streets, in the display windows and so on. Of course some people say this hype around christmas everywhere gets on their nerves. But I am sure that really most of us are left in a more positive mood.

Talking about the Advent there is also the famous calendar. Certainly you can buy a proper advent calendar in Great Britain, especially containing chocolate. But I had the impression that nobody really cares to make one themselves. But excuse me if I got anything wrong: what is bad in making one yourself and create it for one of your beloved ones? Exactly, there is nothing better in the world!

Then in addition there is the music and the silence. I don't want to judge about British christmas music right now - carol singing is definitely a brilliant idea! But what about the silence? Snow (if there is any) makes the world quiet. This creates, again, such a peaceful atmosphere that people tend to be in a good temper much more often. The problem with England is: The tiniest glimpse of snow makes all trains break down and the whole transport systems collapse. Therefore people are so worried about how to get anywhere that there is no time left to relax in the snowy silence.

You might have already guessed: I am a huge fan of London and England in general, but during the pre-christmas period I would always choose to be in Germany and I can only invite everybody to come here and have a look yourself. But please, do not do it with a whole school class. Because you see, there is the silence aspect...

Short Analysis of the poem "The Fountain" by Henry Vaughan

The unthrift sun shot vital gold,

 A thousand, thousand pieces;

 And heav'n its azure did unfold

 Chequer'd with snowy fleeces;

 The air was all in spice,

 And ev'ry bush

 A garland wore:

 Thus fed my eyes,

 But all the earth lay hush,

 Only a little fountain lent

 Some use for ears,

 And on the dumb shades language spent,

 The music of her tears.

These are just a few thoughts on one of my favourite poems:

In this wonderful poem, Henry Vaughan establishes a beautiful picture of nature by means of intriguing images and a splendid use of words.

The vocabulary he uses is clearly derived from nature. By describing the sun and the skies in the beginning, nature as a theme becomes evident right in the beginning.

Also the words used by the poet refer to the five senses: The vital light of the sun can be seen, the snowy fleeces of the sky point to touching, the spicy air can nearly be smelled and tasted while the musical sound made by the fountain can abviously be heard. But these five references are not presented in the same way. The first four senses are depicted with the aid of very vivid imagery leaving extremely strong impressions, whereas hearing carries more quiet and careful attitudes.

This mirrors the overall development of the poem. It starts in a very positive way immediately into a colourful scene and leads to this completely inward description of the fountain making beautiful but gentel and hushed sounds. So the author throws us into a beginning making us want to rejoice over the beauty of nature and leaves us in a state of quietness. And this is a quietness which can also be interpreted as unsure.

The structure of the poem contributes to this uncertainness. We have the following rhyming pattern:

a

b

a

b

c

d

e

c

d

f

g

f

g

On the whole this is highly symmetrical and at first glance it seems to be very smooth in its structure. But when breaking it down one realises that there is a division. We can find what is described by the German term “Kreuzreim” three times. The first and last four verses are not disrupted but the rhyme in the very middle has one additional verse inbetwee separating it. This adds to the feeling of unsecurity as it leaves the impression that the poet is depicting something nearly perfect. But by means of one non-rhyming verse the whole scene can be seen in a different light.

The remaining question for me is: What is it that Henry Vaughan finds missing?