Good King Wenceslas (the sleeper hit of Christmas carols)

by Ki

I remember being very confused by Good King Wenceslas as a kid. This was probably because I only knew the first verse:

Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even

Who was this king with the funny name, and why are we singing a random song about a king having a feast outside in the snow? That was roughly how my thinking went… 

In the last couple of years, I have learned the rest of the verses. For this, I can thank Tressan and Saskia, went through a phase of requesting a Youtube video of a metal version of the song (see below). And now Good King Wenceslas ranks among my favorite Christmas carols. The song tells the story of a good king (one who really existed, about 1,000 years ago) who saw a poor man out in the snow gathering sticks for his fire, and decided to trek through the damp winter cold with his young page, in order to bring that poor man some firewood and food and wine. 

I’ll highlight the two verses that make this carol so special to me, which follow a conversation between page and king during their snowy trek. The first verse is the page speaking to the king, the second verse is the king speaking to the page. 

On an allegorical level in this carol, we can imagine God (or Jesus) as the good king, and ourselves as the young and very cold page. 

“Sire, the night is darker now
And the wind blows stronger
Fails my heart, I know not how,
I can go no longer.”

“Mark my footsteps, my good page
Tread thou in them boldly
Thou shalt find the winter’s rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly.”

Have you ever had a great plan or dearly held dream, and then midway through, it suddenly seemed pointless or impossible? Have you ever been exhausted, barely able to think, and then asked to do three more things simultaneously, with patience, with love, and with a fully-present heart, before you go to sleep? Have you ever felt like your heart is failing because of loss or despair? 

These experiences are universal. But we can meet them in the courage that God is walking just in front of us, through the bitter cold. We are exhorted, here in this carol and throughout scriptures, to be emboldened by the love and constancy of God. 

In the large and small moments when we have a choice to hope or despair, God is calling us to have courage. And Jesus’ birth and death and resurrection—and brotherhood with us through all of those—is at the core of that call. 

Here are a couple of renditions of GKW, depending on your mood: