Lyric Poem · Nature
Before The Paling Of The Stars
1Before the winter morn,
2Before the earliest cock crow,
3Jesus Christ was born:
4Born in a stable,
5Cradled in a manger,
6In the world his hands had made
7Born a stranger.
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“Before The Paling Of The Stars” by Christina Rossetti — quilloak.com/poems/before-the-paling-of-the-stars
Quick facts
- Poem
- Before The Paling Of The Stars
- Poet
- Christina Rossetti
- Length
- 23 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem
- Themes
- Nature, Peace, Winter
Craft notes
How this poem works
Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.
- Shape
- 23 lines · 3 stanzas of 7–8 lines
- Line length
- Lines run 5-7 syllables (median 7). No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.
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Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- Christina Rossetti1830–1894
- Source record
- PoetryDBBefore The Paling Of The Stars by christina-rossetti, PoetryDB transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- Not recorded in the imported source
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 368714aac5703794…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.