The Waits
: CELEBRATIONMARGARET DELAND
At the break of Christmas Day,
Through the frosty starlight ringing,
Faint and sweet and far away,
Comes the sound of children, singing,
Chanting, singing,
_Cease to mourn,
For Christ is born,
Peace and joy to all men bringing!_
Careless that the chill winds blow,
Growing stronger, sweeter, clearer,
Noiseless footfalls in the snow
Bring the happy voices nearer;
Hear them singing,
_Winter's drear,
But Christ is here,
Mirth and gladness with Him bringing!_
Merry Christmas! hear them say,
As the East is growing lighter;
May the joy of Christmas Day
Make your whole year gladder, brighter!
Join their singing,
_To each home
Our Christ has come,
All Love's treasures with Him bringing!_
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The Adoration Of The Wise Men
CECIL FRANCES ALEXANDER Saw you never in the twilight, When the sun had left the skies, Up in heaven the clear stars shining, Through the gloom like silver eyes? So of old the wise men watching, Saw a little st... The Angels
WILLIAM DRUMMOND Run, shepherds, run where Bethlehem blest appears. We bring the best of news; be not dismayed: A Saviour there is born more old than years, Amidst heaven's rolling height this earth who stayed. In a poo... The Birth Of Christ
ALFRED TENNYSON The time draws near the birth of Christ; The moon is hid--the night is still; The Christmas bells from hill to hill Answer each other in the mist. Four voices of four hamlets round, From far a... The Boar's Head Carol
(Sung at Queen's College, Oxford.) The boar's head in hand bear I, Bedecked with bays and rosemary; And I pray you, my masters, be merry, Quot estis in convivio. _Caput apri defero Reddens laudes domino._ ... The Ceremonies For Christmas Day
ROBERT HERRICK Kindle the Christmas brand, and then Till sunset let it burn; Which quench'd, then lay it up again Till Christmas next return. Part must be kept wherewith to teend The Christmas log next year, ... The Christmas Carol
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH The minstrels played their Christmas tune To-night beneath my cottage eaves; While, smitten by a lofty moon, The encircling laurels, thick with leaves, Gave back a rich and dazzling sheen That ... The Christmas Fires
ANNE P.L. FIELD The Christmas fires brightly gleam And dance among the holly boughs, The Christmas pudding's spicy steam With fragrance fills the house, While merry grows each friendly soul Over the foaming wassa... The Christmas Holly
ELIZA COOK The holly! the holly! oh, twine it with bay-- Come give the holly a song; For it helps to drive stern winter away, With his garment so sombre and long; It peeps through the trees with its berries of red, ... The Christmas Silence
MARGARET DELAND Hushed are the pigeons cooing low On dusty rafters of the loft; And mild-eyed oxen, breathing soft, Sleep on the fragrant hay below. Dim shadows in the corner hide; The glimmering lantern's ra... The End Of The Play
WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY The play is done--the curtain drops, Slow-falling to the prompter's bell: A moment yet the actor stops, And looks around, to say farewell. It is an irksome word and task; And, when h... The Glad Evangel
KATE DOUGLAS WIGGIN When the Child of Nazareth was born, the sun, according to the Bosnian legend, leaped in the heavens, and the stars around it danced. A peace came over mountain and forest. Even the rotten stump stood straight and healthy ... The Glorious Song Of Old
EDMUND H. SEARS It came upon the midnight clear, That glorious song of old, From angels bending near the earth To touch their harps of gold, Peace on the earth, good-will to men, From heaven's all-gracious King... The Knighting Of The Sirloin Of Beef By Charles The Second
ANON The Second Charles of England Rode forth one Christmas tide, To hunt a gallant stag of ten, Of Chingford woods the pride. The winds blew keen, the snow fell fast, And made for earth a pall, As tired... The Mahogany-tree
WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY Christmas is here; Winds whistle shrill, Icy and chill, Little care we; Little we fear Weather without, Sheltered about The Mahogany-Tree. Once on the boughs Birds of... The Newest Thing In Christmas Carols
ANONYMOUS God rest you, merry gentlemen! May nothing you dismay; Not even the dyspeptic plats Through which you'll eat your way; Nor yet the heavy Christmas bills The season bids you pay; No, nor the ever ... The Night After Christmas
ANNE P.L. FIELD Twas the night after Christmas in Santa-Claus land And to rest from his labors St. Nicholas planned. The reindeer were turned out to pasture and all The ten thousand assistants discharged till the fall. Th... The Shepherd's Song
EDMUND BOLTON Sweet music, sweeter far Than any song is sweet: Sweet music, heavenly rare, Mine ears, O peers, doth greet. You gentle flocks, whose fleeces pearled with dew, Resemble heaven, who... The Shepherds
WILLIAM DRUMMOND, OF HAWTHORNDEN O than the fairest day, thrice fairer night! Night to blest days in which a sun doth rise Of which that golden eye which clears the skies Is but a sparkling ray, a shadow-light! And bl... The Shepherds In Judea
MARY AUSTIN Oh, the Shepherds in Judea, They are pacing to and fro, For the air grows chill at twilight And the weanling lambs are slow! Leave, O lambs, the dripping sedges, quit the bramble and the ... The Three Kings
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW Three Kings came riding from far away, Melchior and Gaspar and Baltasar; Three Wise Men out of the East were they, And they traveled by night and they slept by day, For their guide was a bea... The Waits
MARGARET DELAND At the break of Christmas Day, Through the frosty starlight ringing, Faint and sweet and far away, Comes the sound of children, singing, Chanting, singing, _Cease to mourn, Fo... To The Fir-tree
FROM THE GERMAN O Fir-tree green! O Fir-tree green! Your leaves are constant ever, Not only in the summer time, But through the winter's snow and rime You're fresh and green forever. O Fir-tree green! O Fir-tre... Under The Holly-bough
CHARLES MACKAY Ye who have scorned each other, Or injured friend or brother, In this fast-fading year; Ye who, by word or deed, Have made a kind heart bleed, Come gather here! Let sinned against and sinning ... Wassailer's Song
ROBERT SOUTHWELL Wassail! wassail! all over the town, Our toast it is white, and our ale it is brown; Our bowl is made of a maplin tree; We be good fellows all;--I drink to thee. Here's to our horse, and to his right ea... When The Stars Of Morning Sang
ANNE P.L. FIELD When the stars of morning sang Long ago, Sweet the air with music rang Through the snow, There beside the mother mild Slept the blessed Christmas child,-- Slumber holy, undefiled-- ... While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night
MARGARET DELAND Like small curled feathers, white and soft, The little clouds went by, Across the moon, and past the stars, And down the western sky: In upland pastures, where the grass With frosted dew was whi... A Christmas Carol
CHARLES DICKENS MASTER Peter, and the two ubiquitous young Cratchits went to fetch the goose, with which they soon returned in high procession. Such a bustle ensued that you might have thought a goose the rarest of all birds; a feathered phen... A Christmas Dream And How It Came True
"I'm so tired of Christmas I wish there never would be another one!" exclaimed a discontented-looking little girl, as she sat idly watching her mother arrange a pile of gifts two days before they were to be given. "Why, Effie, what a dreadful th... A Christmas Fairy
JOHN STRANGE WINTER IT was getting very near to Christmas time, and all the boys at Miss Ware's school were talking about going home for the holidays. "I shall go to the Christmas festival," said Bertie Fellows, "and my mother will have a par... A Christmas Letter From Australia
DOUGLAS SLADEN 'Tis Christmas, and the North wind blows; 'twas two years yesterday Since from the Lusitania's bows I looked o'er Table Bay, A tripper round the narrow world, a pilgrim of the main, Expecting when her sails unfurled... A Christmas Matinee
MRS. M. A. L. LANE IT WAS the day before Christmas in the year 189--. Snow was falling heavily in the streets of Boston, but the crowd of shoppers seemed undiminished. As the storm increased, groups gathered at the corners and in sheltering doo... A Christmas Piece
Of garnered rhyme, from hidden stores of olden time that since the language did begin, have welcomed merry Christmas in, and made the winter nights so long, fleet by on wings of wine and song; for when the snow is on the roof, the house within is so... A Christmas Star
KATHERINE PYLE "COME now, my dear little stars," said Mother Moon, "and I will tell you the Christmas story." Every morning for a week before Christmas, Mother Moon used to call all the little stars around her and tell them a story. It was... A Merry Christmas To You
THEODORE LEDYARD CUYLER My own boyhood was spent in a delightful home on one of the most beautiful farms in Western New York--an experience that any city-bred boy might envy. We had no religious festivals except Thanksgiving Day and Christmas, an... A Simple Bill Of Fare For A Christmas Dinner
H.H. All good recipe-books give bills of fare for different occasions, bills of fare for grand dinners, bills of fare for little dinners; dinners to cost so much per head; dinners which can be easily prepared with one servant, and so on. They giv... A Story Of The Christ-child
A German legend for Christmas Eve as told by ELIZABETH HARRISON ONCE upon a time, a long, long time ago, on the night before Christmas, a little child was wandering all alone through the streets of a great city. There were many people on the ... Alice's Christmas-tree
CHAPTER I. Alice MacNeil had made the plan of this Christmas-tree, all by herself and for herself. She had a due estimate of those manufactured trees which hard-worked "Sabbath Schools" get up for rewards of merit for the children who have been... Christmas
WASHINGTON IRVING But is old, old, good old Christmas gone? Nothing but the hair on his good, gray, old head and beard left? Well, I will have that, seeing I cannot have more of him. Hue and Cry after Ch... Christmas
(A Selection from Dreamthorp) ALEXANDER SMITH Sitting here, I incontinently find myself holding a levee of departed Christmas nights. Silently, and without special call, into my study of imagination come these apparitions, clad in snowy mantles... Christmas And Rome
The first Christmas this in which a Roman Senate has sat in Rome since the old-fashioned Roman Senates went under,--or since they "went up," if we take the expressive language of our Chicago friends. And Pius IX. is celebrating Christmas with an...