Based on the nativity scene, Vega correlates Jesus' birth, at night, in the manger to the dawn of a new civilized world. With key phrase, "Banishing the night of our grief," repeated several times, the metaphorical premise identifies "old ways" as grievous compared to the modern age of the Sixteenth Century. Christ's life is the light of a new day. Interpretation is left to the reader. Light might symbolize spreading the Word of God, advancing civilization, spreading fellowship to the world or any number of events related improving life.
Focusing on the Madonna, "At dawn the Virgin is born and with her the sun," as the dawn. This creates a parallel between a mother giving birth to a child and our birth into the care of God.
That she may be
Mistress of heaven, this holy
Child lifts up
Her light, which is the dawn;
Empowering women, we clearly see the Madonna is revered and holy. Without her Jesus would not have been born or lived as he had to spread wisdom and die on the cross, before Christianity was spread to the world.
The third stanza reiterates and clarifies the statement by saying, "His to give he gives her; the dawn." He is God, giving to one whom in her beauty the warmth to produce a leader who would bring about massive global change. Emphasis between mother and child implies a passage of tradition through many centuries to younger generations.
With so few words multiple stories are told: the story of Virgin Mary being born, Christ's birth and development of Catholicism and Christianity. By choosing to focus on the Madonna, as opposed to Jesus, the meaning includes how we banish the night of our grief.
Quirky Books
Poems of Christmas by Myra Cohn Livingston
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