That fireside feeling

Why do so many Christmas cards feature fireplaces with glowing coals?

Undoubtedly it is partly to do with the idea that Saint Nicholas (from which ‘Santa Claus’ is derived) might visit. The classic verse ’Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement C

Moore depicts his arrival:

‘As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a pedlar just opening his pack.’

The jolly visitor proceeds to fill up the stockings hung ready for his arrival before disappearing back up the chimney with a nod.

Not just about Santa

But a glowing hearth also symbolises other things – warmth and cosiness, a sense of togetherness and contentment. The physical comfort it brings is mirrored by a positive glow of emotions. Gathering by the fireside is what we do once we are full of Christmas dinner, too replete to want to do much anything except relax with our family or friends.

If you are lucky enough to sit by a real fire or stove, you will know how the quiet snap and shuffle of burning fuel, alongside the patterns of dancing flames, gradually draw the attention away from external diversions to a quiet contemplation of the hearth.

The new Crossref-it.info guide to the poems of John Keats features an early poem which sums up the soothing mood cast by the fireplace, as the poet sits before it with his younger brothers, Tom and George:

‘Small, busy flames play through the fresh laid coals,
And their faint cracklings o'er our silence creep
Like whispers of the household gods that keep
A gentle empire o'er fraternal souls.
And while, for rhymes, I search around the poles, (5)
Your eyes are fix d, as in poetic sleep,
Upon the lore so voluble and deep,
That aye at fall of night our care condoles.’

You can read the rest of the sonnet and find out more about what led to its creation here. But meanwhile, as the rush of things to get done before Christmas Day may seem to overwhelm you, it is good to be brought back to a place of peace and communion by this poem. After all, peace and communion are part of the original Christmas message.

Enjoy the holiday!