A CHRISTMAS CAROL.

      The brazen bells of laughing lands
        In swelling echoes wildly ring,
      And over seas and hoary strands
        This Christmas carol sing.

  “Awaken, O, heart of the race,
    To bountiful riches from Eden above,
  Till roses of beauty and lilies of grace
    Shall sweeten the languishing bosom with love;
  Till virulent sorrow and venomous hate
    Their poisonous curses of misery cease,
  And rapturous fortune, felicitous fate,
    Have rule in the musical meadows of peace.

  “The voices of morning to men,
    In passionate whispers of bounteous glee,
  Are pulsing the gladness of Christmas again
    O’er plains of the prairie and sounds of the sea;
  Rejoice and be happy, O, languishing soul,
    In limitless treasures of marvelous cheer,
  Till ravishing murmurs of lullabies roll
    Through all of the sorrows that sadden the year!

  “Though summer has gone from the earth,
    And silken embraces of velvety snow
  Are folding the blossoms of beauty and worth
    In wretched surroundings of wearisome woe;
  Let innocent joys in their sweetness abound
    And silvery cadence in melody start,
  Till rapturous fortunes with pleasure surround
    The aims of the soul and the hopes of the heart.

  “Let youth with its yearning engage
    All vigorous passion that lives in the breast,
  While tearful remembrance of tottering age
    Finds halcyon harbors of comforting rest;
  Let silver of years with the ardor of youth
    Be going again through the temple of joy,
  While palms of amusement and laurels of truth
    Encircle the hearts of the maiden and boy.

  “Let happiness reign with the race;
    There’s never a reason for sorrowful tears,
  Kriss Kringle has come with his fatherly face
    To comfort complaining humanity’s fears;
  Let music go ’round and the beautiful smile
    Bring gladsome delight to the bosom of bliss,
  Till gentle enjoyments unbroken beguile
    The souls of the sad with their coveted kiss.

  “Though crystalline frost on the trees,
    Though ice on the river and snow on the plain
  Are freezing the breath of the shivering breeze. 
    The heart has Nepenthe for all of its pain;
  For Christmas is king, and his bountiful hand
    Is giving its treasures to mountain and lea,
  And gentleness rules on the billowy strand,
    And reigns in the far-away isles of the sea.”

      This is the carol that swells
        Over the meadows and brakes,
      From brazen throats of the pealing bells
        When Christmas morning wakes.

YEARS THAT ARE TO BE.

      Wild years that are to be
  The sad completion of my weary life,
  In ghostly mantles of despairing strife
  Your phanton dimness darkly shadows me! 
  Gaunt demons dancing from your horrid halls
  Entwine my soul in gloomy arms of woe,
  While mystic fancies to my madness show
      The monsters on your walls.