POE TRY.
CHRISTMAS DAY—THE FAMILY SITTING.
IN the days of Caesar Augustus There went forth this decree Si quis rectus et just= Liveth in Galilee, Let him go up to Jerusalem, And pay his scot to me. There are passed one after the other Christmases fifty-three, Since I sat here with my mother And heard the great decree : How they went up to Jerusalem Out of Galilee.
They have passed, one after the other; Father and mother died, Brother and sister and brother, Taken and sanctified.
I am left alone in the sitting, With none to sit beside.
On the fly-leaves of these old prayer-books The childish writings fade,
Which show that once they were their books In the day when prayer was made For other kings and princesses,
William and Adelaide.
The pillars are twisted with holly, And the font is wreathed with yew; Christ forgive me for folly, Youth's lapses—not a few, For the hardness of my middle life, For age's fretful view.
Cotton-wool letters on scarlet, All the ancient lore, Tell how the chieftains starlit To Bethlehem came to adore ; To hail Him King in the manger, Wonderful Counsellor.
The bells ring out in the steeple The gladness of erstwhile, And the children of other people Are walking up the aisle ; They brush my elbow in passing, Some turn to give me a smile.
Is the almond-blossom bitter P Is the grasshopper heavy to bear P Christ make me happier, fitter To go to my own over there : Jerusalem the Golden, What bliss beyond compare.
My Lord, where I have offended Do Thou forgive it me.
That so, when, all being ended,
I hear Thy last decree, I may go up to Jerusalem
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