0:00:07 > 0:00:12Today marks the start of a very special season - Advent,
0:00:12 > 0:00:16when we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22Some of our greatest poets have been so moved by this season
0:00:22 > 0:00:26that they've written inspirational words,
0:00:26 > 0:00:28often given even more depth and beauty
0:00:28 > 0:00:32when perfectly partnered with music
0:00:32 > 0:00:38and so we celebrate Christ's coming in a feast of music and poetry.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45Singing us towards Christmas are three wonderful choirs,
0:00:45 > 0:00:47including The Military Wives,
0:00:47 > 0:00:51as well as our congregation at St Alban's Church in Bristol.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55Verse spanning the centuries is read for us by Sheila Hancock
0:00:55 > 0:00:56and Sir Derek Jacobi.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06MALE CHOIR SINGS IN LATIN
0:01:08 > 0:01:11As far back as the eighth century,
0:01:11 > 0:01:14Latin antiphons were sung in church
0:01:14 > 0:01:17on the seven days leading up to Christmas.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21It's those ancient words on which our first hymn is based,
0:01:21 > 0:01:24O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42Some of the most familiar and poetic Advent verses
0:03:42 > 0:03:44come from the book of Isaiah.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48The prophet was speaking to a people who had long suffered,
0:03:48 > 0:03:50but in the birth of the Messiah,
0:03:50 > 0:03:53they were promised their burdens would be lifted.
0:03:57 > 0:04:02The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death,
0:04:06 > 0:04:09upon them hath the light shined.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16For unto us a child is born.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20Unto us a son is given.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23And the government shall be upon His shoulder
0:04:23 > 0:04:28and His name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor,
0:04:28 > 0:04:33the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
0:04:33 > 0:04:36the Prince of Peace.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41Back in the 17th century,
0:07:41 > 0:07:44Robert Herrick was not just a clergyman in Devon,
0:07:44 > 0:07:46but a lyrical poet who wrote a carol
0:07:46 > 0:07:50that reflected the countryside he knew so well.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54He didn't picture Jesus coming in chilly December, though,
0:07:54 > 0:07:59but in the warm sunlight of May, as a darling Prince of flowers.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04The darling of the world has come
0:08:04 > 0:08:08and fit it is, we find the room to welcome Him.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11The nobler part of all the house here
0:08:11 > 0:08:14is the heart which we will give Him
0:08:14 > 0:08:17and bequeath this holly and this ivy wreath
0:08:17 > 0:08:23to do Him honour who's our King and Lord of all this revelling.
0:08:27 > 0:08:33# What sweeter music can we bring
0:08:33 > 0:08:38# Than a carol for to sing
0:08:38 > 0:08:44# The birth of this Our heavenly King
0:08:44 > 0:08:50# Awake the voice Awake the string!
0:08:50 > 0:08:55# Dark and dull night fly hence away
0:08:55 > 0:09:00# And give the honour to this day
0:09:00 > 0:09:06# That sees December turned to May
0:09:06 > 0:09:14# That sees December turned to May
0:09:16 > 0:09:22# Why does the chilling winter's morn
0:09:22 > 0:09:27# Smile like a field beset with corn?
0:09:27 > 0:09:33# Or smell like a meadow newly shorn
0:09:33 > 0:09:39# Thus on the sudden, come and see
0:09:39 > 0:09:44# The cause, why things thus fragrant be
0:09:44 > 0:09:50# 'Tis He is born Whose quickening birth
0:09:50 > 0:09:55# Gives life and lustre Public mirth
0:09:55 > 0:10:03# To heaven and the under-earth
0:10:03 > 0:10:09# We see Him come and know Him ours
0:10:09 > 0:10:15# Who, with His sunshine and His showers
0:10:15 > 0:10:20# Turns all the patient ground to flowers
0:10:20 > 0:10:27# Turns all the patient ground to flowers
0:10:27 > 0:10:33# The darling of the world is come
0:10:33 > 0:10:39# And fit it is we find a room
0:10:39 > 0:10:47# To welcome Him, to welcome Him
0:10:47 > 0:10:53# The nobler part of all the house here
0:10:53 > 0:10:56# Is the heart
0:10:56 > 0:11:02# Which we will give Him and bequeath
0:11:02 > 0:11:08# This holly and this ivy wreath
0:11:08 > 0:11:14# To do Him honour, who's our King
0:11:14 > 0:11:22# And Lord of all this revelling
0:11:28 > 0:11:34# What sweeter music can we bring
0:11:34 > 0:11:40# Than a carol for to sing?
0:11:40 > 0:11:48# The birth of this The heavenly King
0:11:48 > 0:11:54# The birth of this
0:11:54 > 0:12:02# Our heavenly King. #
0:12:15 > 0:12:19When Sheila Hancock's husband, the acclaimed actor John Thaw,
0:12:19 > 0:12:25died ten years ago, in her grief, she rediscovered her love of verse.
0:12:25 > 0:12:30I had a great upsurge in liking poetry after John died.
0:12:30 > 0:12:31A lot of people sent me poems.
0:12:33 > 0:12:38I'm a Quaker and the word is quite important to us.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43Because of the silence, you know, we worship in silence
0:12:43 > 0:12:48and people should not talk in meetings,
0:12:48 > 0:12:51unless they are really moved to talk.
0:12:51 > 0:12:52Which is where Quaker thing comes from.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55You've got to really have to be able to voice it.
0:12:57 > 0:13:03Poetry is not vital to my life, but it would be much poorer without it,
0:13:03 > 0:13:05let's put it that way.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08I mean, I wouldn't pretend I read poetry every day,
0:13:08 > 0:13:12but I find poetry crystallises things.
0:13:12 > 0:13:19It-It...the very nature of it is to...make things in a nutshell,
0:13:19 > 0:13:20as it were.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24And sometimes a line of poetry can sort of pierce your consciousness
0:13:24 > 0:13:29in the way that a long talk with somebody or a conversation doesn't.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31I can sympathise with anybody who says,
0:13:31 > 0:13:34"Well, I can't get my head round poetry."
0:13:34 > 0:13:37But I think the thing is, with a bit of effort, you can.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39I mean, I've done Shakespeare's sonnets with some kids
0:13:39 > 0:13:42on the White City estate, which is an estate in London.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46And to begin with, they were all going, "Urgh, don't understand it."
0:13:46 > 0:13:49The ended up absolutely loving it
0:13:49 > 0:13:54and totally getting the feeling of the words and the rhythm.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56Look upon myself and curse my fate
0:13:56 > 0:13:59Wishing me like to one more rich in hope.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03It's our heritage and our children have a right to it.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05And it shouldn't be simplified.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08How dare we be so patronising as to think
0:14:08 > 0:14:10the children cannot understand...
0:14:12 > 0:14:15..slightly complex language. Of course they can.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45Can you imagine the run-up to Christmas without a tree?
0:16:45 > 0:16:48Well, popular modern-day poet Wendy Cope
0:16:48 > 0:16:50was prompted to put pen to paper
0:16:50 > 0:16:54when an 8-year-old girl told her that if you don't
0:16:54 > 0:16:58have a real tree, you don't bring Christmas life into the house.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01And for Wendy, that life is Christ himself.
0:17:03 > 0:17:08Bring in a tree, a young Norwegian spruce
0:17:08 > 0:17:12Bring hyacinths that rooted in the cold
0:17:12 > 0:17:15Bring winter jasmine as its buds unfold
0:17:15 > 0:17:18Bring the Christmas life into this house
0:17:18 > 0:17:22Bring red and green and gold, bring things that shine
0:17:22 > 0:17:26Bring candlesticks and music, food and wine
0:17:26 > 0:17:29Bring in your memories of Christmas past
0:17:29 > 0:17:32Bring in your tears for all that you have lost
0:17:32 > 0:17:35Bring in the shepherd boy, the ox and ass
0:17:35 > 0:17:39Bring in the stillness of an icy night
0:17:39 > 0:17:42Bring in the birth, of hope and love and light
0:17:42 > 0:17:46Bring the Christmas life into this house.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55Christina Rossetti was born in 1830
0:17:55 > 0:17:58into a remarkable family of poets and artists.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02So let's hear now from The Military Wives as they sing one of her
0:18:02 > 0:18:07most atmospheric carols, which ends with a personal challenge to us all.
0:18:13 > 0:18:19# In the bleak mid-winter
0:18:19 > 0:18:25# Frosty wind made moan
0:18:25 > 0:18:31# Earth stood hard as iron
0:18:31 > 0:18:37# Water like a stone
0:18:37 > 0:18:45# Snow had fallen, snow on snow
0:18:45 > 0:18:49# Snow on snow
0:18:50 > 0:18:57# In the bleak mid-winter
0:18:57 > 0:19:05# Long ago
0:19:08 > 0:19:15# Our God, heav'n cannot hold Him
0:19:15 > 0:19:22# Nor Earth sustain
0:19:22 > 0:19:28# Heav'n and Earth shall flee away
0:19:28 > 0:19:34# When He comes to reign
0:19:35 > 0:19:40# In the bleak mid-winter
0:19:40 > 0:19:47# A stable-place sufficed
0:19:47 > 0:19:53# The Lord God Almighty
0:19:53 > 0:20:01# Jesus Christ
0:20:03 > 0:20:09# What can I give Him
0:20:09 > 0:20:15# Poor as I am?
0:20:15 > 0:20:21# If I were a shepherd
0:20:21 > 0:20:27# I would bring a lamb
0:20:28 > 0:20:34# If I were a Wise Man
0:20:34 > 0:20:40# I would do my part
0:20:40 > 0:20:48# Yet what I can I give Him
0:20:48 > 0:20:54# Give my heart
0:20:54 > 0:21:02# Give my heart
0:21:04 > 0:21:10# My heart. #
0:21:17 > 0:21:21John Betjeman was unquestionably one of the best-loved poets
0:21:21 > 0:21:23of the 20th century.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27Well-known on television with his teddy bear-like demeanour.
0:21:27 > 0:21:29In spite of being a high-church Anglican,
0:21:29 > 0:21:32he sometimes wrestled with his faith,
0:21:32 > 0:21:36but whatever his personal doubts, his verse is clear and accessible.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42One of his most memorable poems is simply called Christmas,
0:21:42 > 0:21:45and in the last three verses, with gentle irony,
0:21:45 > 0:21:50he wonders why we mark the great miracle of Christ's coming
0:21:50 > 0:21:53with all the "fripperies" of Christmas as we celebrate it today.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58And is it true
0:21:58 > 0:22:01This most tremendous tale of all
0:22:01 > 0:22:06Seen in a stained-glass window's hue
0:22:06 > 0:22:09A baby in an ox's stall?
0:22:09 > 0:22:12The Maker of the stars and sea
0:22:12 > 0:22:15Become a child on Earth for me?
0:22:17 > 0:22:19And is it true?
0:22:20 > 0:22:22For if it is
0:22:22 > 0:22:25No loving fingers tying strings
0:22:25 > 0:22:28Around those tissued fripperies
0:22:28 > 0:22:30The sweet and silly Christmas things
0:22:30 > 0:22:34Bath salts and inexpensive scent
0:22:34 > 0:22:38And hideous tie so kindly meant
0:22:38 > 0:22:42No love that in a family dwells
0:22:42 > 0:22:45No carolling in frosty air
0:22:45 > 0:22:49Nor all the steeple-shaking bells
0:22:49 > 0:22:52Can with this single truth compare
0:22:54 > 0:22:59That God was man in Palestine
0:23:00 > 0:23:05And lives today in bread and wine.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52I think Christmas is probably THE time when we should...
0:24:53 > 0:24:59..lock the doors and put the fire on and engage with poetry.
0:24:59 > 0:25:05For me, it isn't a time to go out, spending money and consuming.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08It's a time to withdraw into the home to be with
0:25:08 > 0:25:10the people that we love most.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13And yes, to reflect as the year ends.
0:25:14 > 0:25:19In 2007, just a couple of years before Carol Ann Duffy
0:25:19 > 0:25:21was appointed Poet Laureate,
0:25:21 > 0:25:24she wrote the words to a collection called The Manchester Carols.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26Well, they're called The Manchester Carols
0:25:26 > 0:25:28because they were written in Manchester.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30I live in Manchester.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34The composer, Sasha Johnson Manning, lives in Manchester.
0:25:34 > 0:25:39It was really an attempt to look at the Christmas story
0:25:39 > 0:25:41from the human aspect.
0:25:41 > 0:25:47When I was taught the story as a child, Joseph was very important.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51I always remember as a child thinking how kind he was.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55And I liked that fact that he had a job. He was a carpenter.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57He made things with his hands.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00My own father was a fitter,
0:26:00 > 0:26:07so I could relate to the human aspect of Joseph as Jesus' father.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10I could imagine him in his workshop making things.
0:26:10 > 0:26:16So when I wrote The Trees, I wanted to have that physical sense
0:26:16 > 0:26:19of Joseph knowing the names of the trees,
0:26:19 > 0:26:24knowing the qualities of the wood, what he could make from them.
0:26:24 > 0:26:30And in the journey of that carol, he makes a cradle for the new baby.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37# Joseph stood by the apple tree
0:26:37 > 0:26:41# Said these hands work at carpentry
0:26:41 > 0:26:45# Tell me what gifts you have for me
0:26:45 > 0:26:50# What gifts you have for me
0:26:50 > 0:26:55# The tree's reply was wind in leaves
0:26:55 > 0:26:59# For all your joys and all your griefs
0:26:59 > 0:27:04# I'll give you fruit for Mary
0:27:04 > 0:27:08# I'll give you fruit for Mary
0:27:17 > 0:27:22# Joseph stood by the cherry tree
0:27:22 > 0:27:26# Said these hands work at carpentry
0:27:26 > 0:27:30# Tell me what gifts you have for me
0:27:30 > 0:27:35# What gifts you have for me
0:27:35 > 0:27:40# The tree's reply was wind in leaves
0:27:40 > 0:27:44# For all your joys and all your griefs
0:27:44 > 0:27:49# I'll give you wood for a cradle
0:27:49 > 0:27:54# I'll give you wood for a cradle
0:28:02 > 0:28:07# Joseph stood by the darkening trees
0:28:07 > 0:28:11# Said these hands made for carpentry
0:28:11 > 0:28:16# Are full of gifts from every tree
0:28:16 > 0:28:21# Full of gifts from every tree
0:28:21 > 0:28:25# The trees' replies were wind in leaves
0:28:25 > 0:28:31# For all your joys and all your griefs
0:28:31 > 0:28:35# Now Joseph go to Mary
0:28:35 > 0:28:39# Now Joseph go to Mary
0:28:44 > 0:28:49# Now Joseph go to Mary. #
0:28:54 > 0:28:58Ursula Fanthorpe, who only died a few years ago, combined teaching
0:28:58 > 0:29:03English at Cheltenham Ladies' College with writing poetry.
0:29:03 > 0:29:08She often reflected her quiet Quaker faith in the poems
0:29:08 > 0:29:13she included in Christmas cards, and in this one, BC:AD,
0:29:13 > 0:29:18she conjures up both the ordinariness and the wonder of Christ's birth.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23This was the moment when Before
0:29:23 > 0:29:27Turned into After and the future's
0:29:27 > 0:29:30Uninvented timekeepers presented arms
0:29:31 > 0:29:34This was the moment when nothing happened
0:29:35 > 0:29:41Only dull peace sprawled boringly over the Earth
0:29:41 > 0:29:44This was the moment when even energetic Romans
0:29:44 > 0:29:46Could find nothing better to do
0:29:46 > 0:29:49Than counting heads in remote provinces
0:29:51 > 0:29:53And this was the moment
0:29:53 > 0:30:01When a few farm workers and three members of an obscure Persian sect
0:30:01 > 0:30:06Walked haphazard by starlight straight
0:30:06 > 0:30:08Into the Kingdom Of Heaven.
0:33:28 > 0:33:32Next week, Aled celebrates the second Sunday in Advent
0:33:32 > 0:33:35with hymns from Holy Cross in Greenford.
0:33:35 > 0:33:38A church built in the middle of the last war.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41Local people share their memories of Christmas in wartime.
0:33:41 > 0:33:45And there's a performance from Jonathan and Charlotte.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd