In the Bleak Mid-Winter - No pino do frio Inverno

In the bleak mid winter
Frosty wind made moan
Earth stood hard as iron
Water like a stone…

These are the firs lines of the rime of a carol from Holst (the same that composed the symphonic suite “The planets”) that children sing in Christmas time at the door houses to get some sweets. As in Portugal we sing the “Janeiras”

Two views of the northern world, to go with…