Mistletoe
Sitting under the mistletoe
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
One last candle burning low,
All the sleepy dancers gone,
Just one candle burning on,
Shadows lurking everywhere:
Some one came, and kissed me there.
Tired I was; my head would go
Nodding under the mistletoe
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
No footsteps came, no voice, but only,
Just as I sat there, sleepy, lonely,
Stooped in the still and shadowy air
Lips unseen—and kissed me there.
(Walter de la Mare 1913)
Lovely tradition that...kissing underneath the mistletoe.
But did you know it originated with a Norse myth? One telling of this myth states that the
Goddess Frigg, queen of Asgard and wife of Odin bore a son named Baldr, known
as ‘The Beautiful.’ Baldr reigned over vegetation, sunshine, and summer. Because
Odin sensed an unknown danger that threatened the life of his son, Frigg
visited all living things on earth and made them each promise to refrain from
harming her son. For if something happened to Baldr, all life on earth would end.
