BALLAD
GOOD Christmas bells, I pray you
Ring him back to me;
For I am in the village,
And he is on the sea.
And out beyond the harbor
The surf is playing white;
Good Christmas bells, I pray you
Ring him home to-night!
The reef beyond the harbor
Is girt with hungry foam;
Good Christmas bells, I pray you
Ring my sailor home!
The lighthouse in the harbor
Burns clear, and keen, and still;
But a sound is in the village,
A voice is on the hill:
The voice of distant surges,
And he is on the sea—
Good Christmas bells, I pray you
Ring him back to me!