Chapter I: WRITE in your Album?

How very absurd!
My mind is at random—

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MAY your cheeks retain their dimples,
May your heart be just as gay,
Until some manly voice shall whisper,
“Dearest, will you name the day?”

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>*CHRISTMAS and NEW-YEAR*<

VERSES.

JOY and plenty in the cottage,
Peace and feasting in the hall;
And the voices of the children
Ring out clear above it all:
A merry Christmas!

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AS Christmas offerings meet your eyes,
Still closer be sweet friendship’s ties.

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RING out, ye bells, o’er all the earth,
To tell with brazen voice,
The tidings of the Saviour’s birth
And bid mankind rejoice.

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TRUE love shall live thro’ sorrow’s wintry storm,
And bloom afresh on this glad Christmas morn.

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OH joyous be your Christmas-tide,
And bright your New Year, too;
To you may love ne’er be denied;
May all your friends be true.

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OUR Saviour Christ was born
That we might have the Rose without the thorn.
All through His desert life
He felt the thorns of human sin and strife.
His blessed feet were bare
To every hurting brier. He did not spare
One bleeding footstep on the way
He came to trace for us, until the day
The cruel crown was pressed upon the Brow
That smiles upon us from His glory now.

And so He won for us
Sweet, thornless, everlasting flowers thus.
He bids our desert way
Rejoice and blossom as the Rose to-day.
There is no hidden thorn
In His good gifts of grace. He would adorn
The lives that now are His alone,
With brightness and beauty all his own.
Then praise the Lord who came on Christmas day
To give the Rose and take the thorns away.

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AGAIN the festive season’s here,
With all that can delight and cheer;
Oh! may you nothing lack each day,
But find fresh blessings strew your way.

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RING in, ring in the revelries,
And let the feast be one
Where not a single guest there is
But Innocence and Fun!
Let Christmas warmth keep winter out,
And joy unbroken reign—
From floor to roof-tree send the shout
Till Christmas comes again!

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A LITTLE bird comes singing,
Singing a song to you;
He sings of sun-tipped flowers,
Bathed in a diamond dew.
“The days are coming,” he warbles,
“When the frost has flown away,
When the earth will be sweet with flowers
And the breath of new-mown hay.”

Oh bird so softly singing
Your song of pleasant days,
Go sing to her I fondly love,
Through the wintry cold and bare.
When the heart is light, the days are bright,
And the sun seems ever near;
So sing her your lay this Christmas Day,
And through all the bright New Year.

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OH! may thy Christmas happy be,
And naught but joy appear,
Is now the wish I send to thee,
And all I love most dear.

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NOW Christmas comes with hearty cheer
May kindly thoughts go round,
And bring to you a glad New Year,
With peace and plenty crowned.

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CHRISTMAS is coming, and what will it bring?
Many a pleasant and gladdening thing!
Meetings and greetings, and innocent mirth:
All that is brightest and best on the earth.

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CHRISTMAS comes, let every heart
In Christmas customs bear its part:
The “old” be “young,” the sad be gay,
And smiles chase every care away.

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SURE, Christmas is a happy time
In spite of wintry weather,
For laugh, and song, and jest go round
When dear friends meet together:
And hearts are warm, and eyes beam bright.
In the ruddy glow of Christmas night!

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FOR friends we strive to pierce
The future, dense and dark,
But not a ray of light
We see, nor faintest spark;
But yet while we have faith to cheer,
We trusting wish “A bright New Year.”

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HARK, the pearly air is trembling,
Liquid music floats along;
Angels, in sweet joy assembling,
Thrill the skies with heavenly song.
“Peace on Earth,” is their refrain,
Oh, be it yours this peace to gain.

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MAY piety with wishes placed above,
And steady loyalty and faithful love,
Be thy blessings this Christmas-tide.

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O LIFE is but a river
And in our childhood we,
But a fair and running streamlet
Adorned with flowers, see.

But as we grow more earnest,
The river grows more deep,
And where we laughed in childhood,
We, older, pause to weep.

Each Christmas as it passes,
Some change to us doth bring,
Yet to our friends the closer,
As time creeps on, we cling.

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MAY health and joy, and peace be thine
Upon this Christmas day,
And happy faces round thee shine
As plenteous as the flowers in May.

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O BRIGHT be the day
Sweet echoes resounding,
Love lighting the way
And warm hearts surrounding.
May the breath of His peace
In thy spirit remain,
Till Christmas revisits
The round world again!

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LET the New Tear be to you
As a childish playmate new,
Stealing suddenly among
Apple-boughs that overhung.

Greet him half in confidence,
Half as ready for defence!
Is he come to tease or play?
Will he give or take away?

Let him come as friend or foe!
No New Year can overthrow
This our friendship that has grown
From the years that now are flown.

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O CHILDHOOD is a golden time,
When all the world is bright,
When sunshine comes with every morn,
Sweet dreams with every night.
Were I a fairy, I would give
To thee a magic kiss,
That should ensure for the New Year,
As fair a time as this.

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TAKE, my friend, this heartfelt greeting,
Happy be thy Christmas day,
Faith, and hope, and love here meeting,
Speed thee on thy New Year’s way!

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