And blood of Danish warriors is red upon the snow.
Amid the conquering Saxons the aged pilgrim stands,
And like a holy prophet exclaims with lifted hands,
‘The Heavenly King, who reigns on high,
Bless him who hears the poor man’s cry.’”
A graceful little duet for female voices (“Little Children, all rejoice”), picturing the delights of childhood and its exemption from care, follows the Saxon story and leads up to the finale, which is choral throughout, and gives all the pleasant details of Christmas cheer,—the feast in the vaulted hall, the baron of beef, the boar with the lemon in his jaw, the pudding, “gem of all the feast,” the generous wassail, and the mistletoe bough with its warning to maids. In delightfully picturesque old English music the joyous scene comes to an end:—
“Varied sports the evening close,
Dancers form in busy rows:
Hoodwink’d lovers roam about,
Hope to find the right one out,