Page:Our American Holidays - Christmas.djvu/264

And to bring the grandsires all around
     To hear the tale he tells.

Here comes the Christmas angel,
     So gentle and so calm;
As softly as the falling flakes
     He comes with flute and psalm.
All in a cloud of glory,
     As once upon the plain
To shepherd-boys in Jewry,
     He brings good news again.
He is the young folks’ Christmas;
     He makes their eyes grow bright
With words of hope and tender thought,
     And visions of delight.
Hail to the Christmas angel!
     All peace on earth he brings;
He gathers all the youths and maids
     Beneath his shining wings.

Here comes the little Christ-child,
     All innocence and joy,
And bearing gifts in either hand
     For every girl and boy.
He tells the tender story
     About the Holy Maid,
And Jesus in the manger
     Before the oxen laid.
Like any little winter bird
     He sings his sweetest song,
Till all the cherubs in the sky
     To hear his carol throng.