In the podcast Welcome to Alchemy, Tim & LeeAnna dive into the curious tale of how the Christmas classic O Holy Night came to be. Originally penned in 1847 by Placide de Cappeau in France (who, for full transparency, was allegedly a socialist and something of a drunkard), this holiday hit was first titled Cantique de Noel. Cappeau, apparently feeling particularly inspired (or possibly just tipsy), wrote the song on a stagecoach ride from Mâcon to Dijon—a six-hour trek that likely involved a lot of thinking, and maybe a bit of muttering to himself about life, Christmas, and the woes of being a socialist in 19th-century France.
The fun doesn’t stop there. When Cappeau first delivered the lyrics to an unexpected world, the song sparked a little controversy. You see, one early version read: “Midnight, Christian! It is the solemn hour when the Man-God descended unto us, to erase original sin, and to stop the wrath of his Father.” Now, I don’t know about you, but the term wrath doesn’t exactly scream holiday cheer. It's probably not the first thing you want to hear at your family Christmas dinner unless you're really into dramatic readings from The Exorcist.
Tim, however, has a soft spot for one particular line of the song:
"A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!"
Ah yes, nothing like an early morning sunrise to make you forget how tired and overworked you are. Who needs coffee when you have a glorious morn?
And speaking of inspiration, Tim has a challenge for you writers. The prompt is simple: Keep it under 600 words.
Write about Placide de Cappeau's frantic, probably wine-fueled stagecoach ride as he scrambles to finish O Holy Night before meeting the composer. Picture the drama, the comedy, the missed connections, the inevitable setbacks (maybe a lost pen, a flat tire on the stagecoach, a brief philosophical debate with the driver about the meaning of Christmas).
Or, take a shot at writing about that thrill of hope and how it might come alive for one weary soul on Christmas Eve, or what kind of strange evert would trigger a weary world to rejoice. Aliens? The ability to travel faster than the speed of light (especially welcome at Christmastime airline and airport snarls)?
Write whatever inspires you—just make sure it’s under 600 words. Pop it over to us through the submissions page. Who knows, maybe we'll even feature it on the podcast. Just don’t send us a stagecoach-sized word count, alright?
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