CHRISTMAS, EASTER, AND PENTECOST. O DU fröhliche, o du selige, Christ ist geboren : O du fröhliche, o du selige, Christ ist erstanden: Freue, freue dich, o Christenheit! O du fröhliche, o du selige, Christ, unser Meister, Heiligt die Geister: Freue, freue dich, o Christenheit ! CHRISTMAS EVE. THE sun is set, the stars begin A little maid with eager gaze Comes hurrying to the house of prayer, Shaping in heart a wild green maze Of woodland branches there. One look, a cloud comes o'er her dream; No burnished leaves, so fresh and clear, No berries, with their ripe red gleam:"There is no Christmas here." What if that little maiden's Lord, 274 Christmas Eve. "Where are the fruits I yearly seek, As holy seasons pass away, Eyes turned from ill, lips pure and meek, A heart that strives to pray? "Where are the glad and artless smiles, Spare, gracious Saviour, me and mine: Ere we again that glimmering view, By winter frosts and summer heats, By prunings sharp and waterings mild, Keen airs of Lent, and Easter sweets, Tame thou the sour and wild. And dare we ask for one year more ? Yea, there is hope: One waits on high Christmas Eve. To tell our contrite yearnings o'er, If He in Heaven repeat our vow, We copying here his pure, dread will, Oh, dream of joy!— the withered bough May blush with fruitage still. 275 NEW YEAR'S EVE. RING Out, wild bells, to the wild sky, Ring out the old, ring in the new; Ring out the grief that saps the mind, For those that here we see no more; Ring out the feud of rich and poor, Ring in redress to all mankind. Ring out a slowly dying cause, And ancient forms of party strife; Ring in the nobler modes of life, With sweeter manners, purer laws. |