Christmas

Welcome again, O Christmas!
Though ye come with the winter wind,
Yet thy voice still glows and brightens,
And thy grasp is strong and kind.

Ye have come again, and we listen
To thy lusty shout and cheer;
O, well may we bid you welcome,
For ye bring us the glad New Year.

Then pile up the blazing fuel,
Let the sparks flash up and go,
Till the heat spreads out, and the bosom
Grows warm with a kindly glow.

And well may our hearts within us
Leap up at this happy time,
When the clasp and the friendly greeting
Are sweet as a poet's rhyme.

For ye teach, when the year is dying,
The nobler uses of life;
The thirst for the kindlier usage,
And the hate for the paltrier strife.

Then, brothers, in this glad feast time
Let us pause on the shining hearth,
And catch, in our heart's best whisper,
The message of Christ to earth.

Lo! far through the gap of ages
It throbs again and again,
Crying, "Peace on the earth and gladness
To the toiling sons of men."

Aye, peace, let it come and brighten
The world's worn weary heart,
And bring to us one broad Christmas
That will not like this depart.