Page:Little Ellie and Other Tales (1850).djvu/163

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New Year’s Eve.

The night was wild and stormy,
The morn is cold and gray,
And good church bells are ringing,
Christ’s circumcision day.

And holy men were praying
In many a holy place;
And little children’s angels
Sing songs before his face.

In her scant and tattered garment,
With her back against the wall;
She sitteth cold and rigid,
She answers not their call;

They have lifted her up fearfully,
They shuddered as they said,
“It was a bitter, bitter night,
The child is frozen dead.”

The angels sang their greeting,
For one more redeemed from sin;
Men said, “It was a bitter night,
Would no one let her in?”

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