 | Poems of home and country |  |
THE CHRISTMAS TREE.
In all this bright and pleasant land
Of sunshine, dew, and flowers,
Has sprung to life no Christmas tree
More fair than this of ours.
Of sunshine, dew, and flowers,
Has sprung to life no Christmas tree
More fair than this of ours.
Up from the strengthening earth no sap
Flows out from stem to stem,
But beauty crowns each bending branch,
A Christmas diadem.
Flows out from stem to stem,
But beauty crowns each bending branch,
A Christmas diadem.
No faded blossoms drooping hang,
No withered twig is seen;
Love set, and love adorned, the tree,—
And love is ever green.
No withered twig is seen;
Love set, and love adorned, the tree,—
And love is ever green.
And every little leaflet clings
Closely to every other,
Like nestling bird to nestling bird,
Like child to loving mother.
Closely to every other,
Like nestling bird to nestling bird,
Like child to loving mother.
370
Brought from the field where once it grew,—
Alive, without a root;
'T is not a fruit tree, but it yields
The most amazing fruit.
Alive, without a root;
'T is not a fruit tree, but it yields
The most amazing fruit.
What would you find upon the tree?
Cake, candy, book, or pistol?
Perhaps not all, but love, as dear
As any love in Bristol.
Cake, candy, book, or pistol?
Perhaps not all, but love, as dear
As any love in Bristol.
Then welcome to the festal hall;
Come to our Christmas tree;
Come where the branches drop their gifts,
Like the blest gospel, free.
Come to our Christmas tree;
Come where the branches drop their gifts,
Like the blest gospel, free.
In all this bright and pleasant land
Of sunshine, dew, and flowers,
Has sprung to life no Christmas tree,
More fair than this of ours.
Of sunshine, dew, and flowers,
Has sprung to life no Christmas tree,
More fair than this of ours.
Bristol, R. I., Christmas, 1870.
| Poems of home and country | |