Thou, who hearest plaintive music,
Or sweet songs of other days;
Heaven-revealing organs pealing,
Or clear voices hymning praise,
And wouldst weep, thou know'st not wherefore,
Though thy soul is steeped in joy;
And the world looks kindly on thee,
And thy bliss hath no alloy-
Weep, nor seek for consolation,
Let the heaven-sent droplets flow,
They are hints of mighty secrets,
We are wiser than we know.
Thou, who in the noon-time brightness
Seest a shadow undefined;
Hear'st a voice that indistinctly
Whispers caution to thy mind:
Thou, who hast a vague foreboding
That a peril may be near,
Even when Nature smiles around thee,
And thy Conscience holds thee clear
Trust the warning-look before thee-
Angels may the mirror show,
Dimly still, but sent to guide thee,
We are wiser than we know.
Countless chords of heavenly music,
Struck ere earthly time began,
Vibrate in immortal concord
To the answering soul of man :
Countless rays of heavenly glory
Shine through spirit pent in clay,
On the wise men at their labors,
On the children at their play.
Man has gazed on heavenly secrets,
Sunned himself in heavenly glow,
Seen the glory, heard the music,
We are wiser than we know.
LISTEN, all ye Christian people,
Let no fears your souls dismay;
God's own Son, the Lord, the Saviour,
He was born on Christmas day.
All the earth was bound in sadness,
Darkness lay upon the land,
And the silence of the midnight,
When the moment was at hand;
When through all the midnight darkness,
Through the world's sad heart forlorn,
Passed a thrill of life ecstatic ;
And the Christ! the Christ was born!
Nature owned the glad emotion; And the simple shepherd folk, 23
As if day shone out above them,
With the joyful impulse woke ;
Woke, and lo! a glorious vision
Filled their souls with wondering awe,
And ten thousand holy angels,
Thronging all the heavens, they saw.
And they heard them sing, as never
Skylark sang above the corn,
"Peace on earth, and endless blessing!
For the Christ! the Christ is born!
"Sons and daughters of affliction,
Join great Nature's choral voice!
Thou, the captive; thou, the stranger;
Thou, the poor, rejoice! rejoice!
Weeping mother, cease thy anguish,
For thy first-born gone astray;
Christ is born, the dear Redeemer,
Who will save the castaway!
Little toiling orphan children,
Heirs of destiny forlorn,
Weep not, for the true Consoler
Christ, the mourner's Friend
"Sinner, conscious of transgression,
Scorned of men, outcast and vile,
Christ is born, whose blood shall cleanse thee,
And to God shall reconcile !
Noble spirit, patriot, poet,
Thirsting to be great and free,
Christ is born, thy true ensample,
Dying on the Cross for thee!"
Thus they sang, those holy angels,
'Mid the pallid stars of morn,
"Peace on earth, and endless blessing! For the Christ! the Christ is born!"
NAME her not, the guilty one,
Virtue turns aside for shame
At the mention of her name :
Very evilly hath she done.
Pity is on her misspent:
She was born of guilty kin,
Her life's course hath guilty been ;
Never unto school she went,
And whate'er she learned was sin;
Let her die!
She was nurtured for her fate;
Beautiful she was, and vain;
Like a child of sinful Cain,
She was born a reprobate.
Lives like hers the world defile;
Plead not for her, let her die,
As the child of infamy,
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