THE CHRISTMAS TREE.
Christmas comes but once a year;
'Tis come at last, O glorious day!
Let every cross that mortals bear
Be for the moment flung away.
"Yes," says the cricket from his hole
Beside the flame-lit kitchen hearth,
"It is a time for every soul
To give himself to joy and mirth,"
"Christmas comes but once a year,"
Returns the timid pantry mouse.
"The cat has told me not to fear;
To-night I'll scamper through the house."
So, blow ye winds, and you, Jack Frost,
Come in the dark and do your worst;
How wild soe'er the night may be,
It shall not stir my Christmas Tree.
Then let us dance and laugh and sing,
And form in all one happy ring;
The Yule log never burned so bright.
Hurrah! hurrah! 'tis Christmas night.
It is a time to seek the poor,
And bid them welcome round our door;
The alms we give, to Christ are given.
And hung on Christmas Trees in heaven.
The Christmas Tree is evergreen:
The hand of time may change the scene,
The child a gray-haired man may be,
But memory keeps the Christmas Tree.
W.S., Jr.