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 | The poems of Madison Cawein |  |
265
THE PURITANS' CHRISTMAS
Their only thought religion,
What Christmas joys had they,
The stern, staunch Pilgrim Fathers who
Knew never a holiday?—
What Christmas joys had they,
The stern, staunch Pilgrim Fathers who
Knew never a holiday?—
A log-church in the clearing
'Mid solitudes of snow,
The wild-beast and the wilderness,
And lurking Indian foe.
'Mid solitudes of snow,
The wild-beast and the wilderness,
And lurking Indian foe.
No time had they for pleasure,
Whom God had put to school;
A sermon was their Christmas cheer,
A psalm their only Yule.
Whom God had put to school;
A sermon was their Christmas cheer,
A psalm their only Yule.
They deemed it joy sufficient,—
Nor would Christ take it ill,—
That service to himself and God
Employed their spirits still.
Nor would Christ take it ill,—
That service to himself and God
Employed their spirits still.
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And so through faith and prayer
Their powers were renewed,
And hearts made strong to hew a world,
And tame a solitude.
Their powers were renewed,
And hearts made strong to hew a world,
And tame a solitude.
A type of revolution,
Wrought from an iron plan,
In the largest mold of liberty
God cast the Puritan.
Wrought from an iron plan,
In the largest mold of liberty
God cast the Puritan.
A better land they founded,
That Freedom had for bride,
The shackles of old despotism
Struck from her limbs and side.
That Freedom had for bride,
The shackles of old despotism
Struck from her limbs and side.
With faith within to guide them,
And courage to perform,
A nation, from a wilderness,
They hewed with their strong arm.
And courage to perform,
A nation, from a wilderness,
They hewed with their strong arm.
For liberty to worship,
And right to do and dare,
They faced the savage and the storm
With voices raised in prayer.
And right to do and dare,
They faced the savage and the storm
With voices raised in prayer.
For God it was who summoned,
And God it was who led,
And God would not forsake the love
That must be clothed and fed.
And God it was who led,
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That must be clothed and fed.
Great need had they of courage!
Great need of faith had they!
And, lacking these,—how otherwise
For us had been this day!
Great need of faith had they!
And, lacking these,—how otherwise
For us had been this day!
| The poems of Madison Cawein | |