A Christmas Carol and Poetry
Christmas celebrations. Scrooge. Personal transformation via haunting visions. It’s A Christmas Carol!
Enjoy the classic Christmas ghost story from Charles Dickens, accompanied by an Invitation to Read from author and poet Megan Willome.
This annotated version includes history, original poetry, and special writing prompts you can try—and then share your results with the Tweetspeak Poetry community.
Megan’s reflections will help you rethink how the story can apply to you as a modern reader. Book club discussion questions (which are also suitable for use in private journaling) are provided.
Try It: A Christmas Carol Poetry Prompt
In the “extras” section of our new edition of the classic ghost story A Christmas Carol, author Megan Willome writes a rondeau. What will you write?
Share your poems in the comment box below!
Options
1. Write a holiday carol poem
2. Write a ghostly holiday poem
3. Write a poem with A Christmas Carol references
4. Write a poem from the point of view of one of the characters from A Christmas Carol
Photo by Josh Hild, via Unsplash.
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Joshua C. Frank says
I wrote this one not too long ago; it’s scheduled to be published at the end of the month.
Two Empty Chairs
(Scheduled to be published at the Society of Classical Poets, December 30, 2022; based on a letter to the editor of Seattle Catholic, 2002)
Two empty chairs, each in its place—
The kitchen table’s vacant space,
Where our six children see the chill
Of unworn seats, both standing still
Like Tiny Tim’s by the fireplace.
We timed the marital embrace
To procreate at slower pace.
That empty phrase means none shall fill
Two empty chairs.
Our family planning did erase
Two precious souls we can’t replace;
We chose ourselves above God’s will.
Their nonexistence buys each frill,
And never shall their presence grace
Two empty chairs.
Megan Willome says
Thank you for sharing this tender poem, Joshua. So glad it’s finding a place in the world.
Sara Barkat says
There was an old miser named Scrooge
whose cheque-book and lock-box were huge
one night came three ghosts
to show him the ropes
and reveal what it hurts most to lose.
Megan Willome says
Ha! A limerick!
Love it, Sara! It’s funny and succinct.
L.L. Barkat says
Limerick! What a great idea, Sara. After all, A Christmas Carol is deeply witty. Fun literary allusions. Fun puns. I simply can’t abstain. 😉
There was an old man in bed
who couldn’t get out of his head.
Three ghosts came along
once the clock went “ding dong,”
and now the chum’s doling out bread.
Megan Willome says
Ha! Love it! Thanks for chiming in.
Rebecca D Martin says
I’ve been geekily, inspiredly crafting found poems from some of my own writings lately. Here’s a _Christmas Carol_ poem pulled from an essay I wrote ten years ago on Dickens and Irving, Christmas spirits and the sooty backdrop to Dickens’s most famous holiday tale:
DIFFERENT INDEED
Chimneys and spirits correspond with
London’s poorest child
It’s hard to get left out, all the
carols and quadrilles
for the upper classes who
aren’t worn to death
Heighten the sentiment:
“Keep Christmas” Dickens says
with Irving (Who was the original
santa? St. Nick or Present’s Ghost,
Tiny Tim or Scrooge,
does it matter?) There are
only the chimneys
They are either dark or bright
Megan Willome says
Thank you, Rebecca! So wonderful to know another person with affection for these old Christmas tales. I love how your poem shows how they speak to each other.