WAITING. As little children in a darkened hall So wait we in time's dim and narrow room, And, with strange fancies or another's thought, Try to divine before the curtain rise The wondrous scene; forgetting that the gloom Must shortly flee from what the ages sought,The Father's long-planned gift of Paradise. C. H. Crandall. AUNT MARY. A CORNISH CHRISTMAS CHANT. Now of all the trees by the king's highway, O! the one that is green upon Christmas-day, Now the holly with her drops of blood for me: For that is our dear Aunt Mary's tree. Its leaves are sweet with our Saviour's name, 'Tis a plant that loves the poor : Summer and winter it shines the same O! the holly with her drops of blood for me: 'Tis a bush that the birds will never leave: But sweetest of all upon Christmas-eve 'Tis the merriest sound upon earth and sea: For it comes from our own Aunt Mary's tree. So, of all that grow by the king's highway, 'Tis a bower for the birds upon Christmas-day, The bush of the bleeding breast. O! the holly with her drops of blood for me : For that is our sweet Aunt Mary's tree. Robert Stephen Hawker. THE GLAD NEW DAY. And why should not that land rejoice, When on its dim, benighted hills Rejoice, ye nations blest with peace, Let all the earth be glad; The Prince of Peace comes down to-day, In robes of pity clad. Yea, thus should all mankind rejoice On this glad day of love; But yet, alas! how far we are From those blest heights above! Ah! for the time when men shall spend This day as all men should, When angels shall with joy attend, And dwell among the good. Then will this earth an Eden be, A Paradise of love; And all shall know the perfect bliss Of those bright realms above. Thomas Moore. UNDER THE HOLLY BOUGH. Ye who have scorned each other Or wronged a friend or brother, Ye who have loved each other Ye who have nourished sadness Estranged from joy and gladness, |