 | Childhood songs |  |
179
NEW-YEAR'S WISHES.
New-year's morning softly broke
As a little girl awoke,
And, half rising in her bed,
To her drowsy sister said:
“Waken, Annie! Where 's the bird?
Where 's the singing that I heard?
Birds and birds went to and fro,
Thick and white as flakes of snow,
Singing sweetly as they flew;
Never came such music through
Thrush's beak or linnet's throat.
How I wished that I could float
In the air, and sing so, too!
Listen, Annie! one bird flew
In here, fluttering down to you.
How he came I could not learn;
But the white tips of the fern
Jack Frost painted on the pane
Waved in and waved out again,
As that white bird came and went.
O, I wonder what it meant!
Warm, soft wings and bubbling song;
Where, where could those birds belong,
Making all the frosty sky
Tingle, ring, as they went by?”
As a little girl awoke,
And, half rising in her bed,
To her drowsy sister said:
“Waken, Annie! Where 's the bird?
Where 's the singing that I heard?
Birds and birds went to and fro,
Thick and white as flakes of snow,
180
Never came such music through
Thrush's beak or linnet's throat.
How I wished that I could float
In the air, and sing so, too!
Listen, Annie! one bird flew
In here, fluttering down to you.
How he came I could not learn;
But the white tips of the fern
Jack Frost painted on the pane
Waved in and waved out again,
As that white bird came and went.
O, I wonder what it meant!
Warm, soft wings and bubbling song;
Where, where could those birds belong,
Making all the frosty sky
Tingle, ring, as they went by?”
Annie murmured: “Strange, you seem
Not to know it was a dream.”
“O, but, Annie! wake and hear!
Happy New Year to you, dear!
Wake up! It is New-Year's day!
On your pillow there's a ray
Of the golden morning sun.”
Not to know it was a dream.”
181
Happy New Year to you, dear!
Wake up! It is New-Year's day!
On your pillow there's a ray
Of the golden morning sun.”
Then a low voice: “Little one,
Of the birds I heard you tell,
And I know their meaning well.
New-Year's wishes, happy words,
Were the dear white singing-birds
Thronging in the snowy air.
Think how sweet, if everywhere,
When a loving word were said,
Birds went warbling overhead!
And, perhaps, to ear and eye
Of the watchers in the sky
So it is; with each kind thought
Song and flash of wing is brought
To our world from gardens bright,
Where no winter is, nor night.
Call your birds the Christ-child's doves;
For the music that he loves
Is the carol, ‘Peace! Good-will!’
Echoing from his birthday still;
And the birthday of the year
Brings again the Christ-child here.”
Of the birds I heard you tell,
And I know their meaning well.
New-Year's wishes, happy words,
Were the dear white singing-birds
Thronging in the snowy air.
Think how sweet, if everywhere,
When a loving word were said,
Birds went warbling overhead!
And, perhaps, to ear and eye
Of the watchers in the sky
So it is; with each kind thought
Song and flash of wing is brought
To our world from gardens bright,
182
Call your birds the Christ-child's doves;
For the music that he loves
Is the carol, ‘Peace! Good-will!’
Echoing from his birthday still;
And the birthday of the year
Brings again the Christ-child here.”
“Then the bird on Annie's head
Was the New-Year's wish I said,
Mother darling? This does seem
Something better than a dream.”
Was the New-Year's wish I said,
Mother darling? This does seem
Something better than a dream.”
| Childhood songs | |