If fair-faced Pleasure brightly
Beam upon our happy home,
And our hearts with hope beat lightly
Of brighter days to come;
If fickle Fortune, smiling,
Strew the pleasant path with flowers,
And Mirth, with song beguiling,
Lead the merry-footed hours—
There's a deeper, holier gladness
That is ours to keep and claim,
If we feel in joy or sadness
Someone loves us all the same!
If our thoughts, at evening blending
With the dim and shadowy light,
Bring us dreams of bliss unending
In the Haven, calm and bright—
Oh! how sweet the thought—"for ever
'Mong the sinless we shall stand,
There united, ne'er to sever,
In the bright and better land:"
And e'en then, refined and holy,
Free from earthly stain and sin,
Shall the pure heart, meek and lowly,
Wear the crown true love shall win.
NEW YEAR'S SONG.
"Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky.
The flying clouds, the frosty light;
The year is dying in the night—
Ring out, wild bells, and let it die!
"Ring out the Old; ring in the New!
Ring, happy bells, across the snow!
The year is going; let it go—
Ring out the false! ring in the truer!"—TENNYSON.
Oh! welcome! welcome! glad New Year!
We hail with joy your birth.
Let peace and love reign far and near,
And plenty fill the earth!
Old Year, good-bye! a last good-bye
To sorrow, woe and sin!
Let all of darkness with thee die
And all of light begin!
When first we bade you welcome here
We hailed you with delight;
But ah! how many then were near,
So far away to-night!
Ah! well! if thorns were 'mong thy flowers,
Or clouds were in thy sky,
We owe thee many blissful hours
Whose memory ne'er can die!
Farewell, farewell, for aye, Old Year,
And as you pass from view,
For all those golden hours a tear
That pass away with you!