His paths, his landmarks, all unknown,
Close to the hut, no more his own,
Close to the aid he sought in vain,
The morn may find the stiffen'd swain:
His widow sees at dawning pale,
His orphans raise their feeble wail;
And, close beside him, in the snow,
Poor Yarrow, partner of their woe,
Couches upon his master's breast,
And licks his cheek to break his rest.
WELL may we welcome Christmas with song and chime of bells,
For round the hearts of all on earth he casts his mystic spells;
He opens with the magic key of kindness every heart, And smiles to see the memory of sorrows past depart; He comes with mirth and laughter, with carol and with glee,
And th' gladdest time of all the year is Christmas time
I love to hear kind voices! I love to see bright eyes! I love to hear from joyous bells the gladsome pœans
Oh! yes, I do love Christmas, for nothing seems too
And nothing seems too lowly for the love-glance of his
A true republican is he, the friend of equal right,
Who advocates fraternity and propagates delight:
And for the aged and the poor, how earnestly he pleads,
Whilst every moment of his reign is fraught with
kindly deeds.
Come hang then up the mistletoe (true olive branch), that peace
May bless our paths with pleasantness, and make our joys increase;
And let us too, like Christmas, come, the suffering world to cheer,
To help the poor disconsolate, to wipe the mourner's
Yes, let us each one make a vow, to do whate'er we can To solace in adversity the sufferings of man.
CHRISTMAS IN OLD TIME.
HEAP on the wood! the wind is chill;
But let it whistle as it will,
We'll keep our merry Christmas still.
Full well our Christian sires of old
Loved when the year its course had roll'd,
And brought blithe Christmas back again,
With all his hospitable train.
Domestic and religious rite
Gave honour to the holy night:
On Christmas-eve the bells were rung;
On Christmas-eve the mass was sung;
That only night in all the year
Saw the stoled priest the chalice rear;
The damsel donn'd her kirtle sheen;
The hall was dress'd with holly green;
Forth to the wood did merry men go,
To gather in the mistletoe.
Then open'd wide the baron's hall
To vassal, tenant, serf, and all.
Power laid his rod of rule aside,
And Ceremony doffed his pride.
All hail'd, with uncontroll'd delight
And general voice, the happy night
That to the cottage, as the crown,
Brought tidings of salvation down.
The fire, with well-dried logs supplied,
Went roaring up the chimney wide;
The huge hall-table's oaken face,
Scrubbed till it shone the day to grace,
Bore then upon its massive board
No mark to part the squire and lord.
Then was brought in the lusty brawn
By old blue-coated serving-man;
Then the grim boar's-head frown'd on high,
Crested with bays and rosemary.
There the huge sirloin reek'd: hard by
Plum-porridge stood, and Christmas pie;
Nor fail'd old Scotland to produce
At such high tide her savoury goose.
Then came the merry maskers in,
The carols roar'd with blithesome din
If unmelodious was the song,
It was a hearty note and strong.
Who lists may in their mumming see
Traces of ancient mystery.
White shirts supplied the masquerade,
And smutted cheeks the visors made:
But oh, what masquers, richly dight,
Can boast of bosoms half so light?
England was merry England when
Old Christmas brought his sports again.
'Twas Christmas broach'd the mightiest ale;
'Twas Christmas told the merriest tale:
A Christmas gambol oft could cheer
The poor man's heart through half the year.
SWIFTLY from the mountain's brow,
Shadows nursed by night retire;
And the peeping sunbeams now
Paint with gold the village spire.
Sweet, O sweet, the warbling throng,
On the white emblossomed spray;
Nature's universal song
Echoes to the rising day.
SUNRISE AFTER A DARK NIGHT.
That when the searching eye of heaven is hid
Behind the globe, and lights the lower world,
Then thieves and robbers range abroad unseen,
In murders, and in outrage, bloody here:
But when from under this terrestrial ball,
He fires the proud tops of the eastern pines,
And darts his light through every guilty hole,
Then murders, treasons, and detested sins,
The cloak of night being pluck'd from off their backs,
Stand bare and naked, trembling at themselves?
A WIND came up out of the sea,
And said, "O mists, make room for me."
It hailed the ships, and cried, "Sail on,
Ye mariners, the night is gone."
And hurried landward far away,
Crying, "Awake! it is the day."
It said unto the forest, "Shout!
Hang all your leafy banners out!"
It touched the wood-bird's folded wing,
And said, "O bird, awake and sing."
And o'er the farms, "O chanticleer,
Your clarion blow; the day is near."
It whispered to the fields of corn,
“Bow down, and hail the coming morn."
It shouted through the belfry-tower,
"Awake, O bell! proclaim the hour."
It crossed the churchyard with a sigh,
And said, "Not yet! in quiet lie."
HAIL! smiling morn, that tips the hills with gold,
Whose rosy fingers ope the gates of day;
Hail! Hail!
Who the gay face of nature dost unfold;
At whose bright presence darkness flees away,
Hail! hail! hail! hail!
BUT who the melodies of morn can tell?
The wild brook babbling down the mountain's side The lowing herd; the sheepfold's simple bell; The pipe of early shepherd dim descried In the lone valley; echoing far and wide The clamorous horn along the cliffs above; The hollow murmur of the ocean-tide; The hum of bees, the linnet's lay of love, And the full choir that wakes the universal grove. The cottage curs at early pilgrim bark;
Crown'd with her pail the tripping milkmaid sings; The whistling ploughman stalks afield; and hark! Down the rough slope the ponderous waggon rings; Through rustling corn the hare astonish'd springs; Slow tells the village-clock the drowsy hour; The partridge bursts away on whirring wings; Deep mourns the turtle in sequester'd bower, And shrill lark carols clear from her aerial tower.
MORNING'S DAWN.
THERE is a soft and fragrant hour,
Sweet, fresh, reviving in its pow'r ;
"Tis when a ray
Steals from the veil of parting night,
And by its mild prelusive light
Foretells the day.
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