THE MIDNIGHT VISITOR.
It was a dreary night in winter-time, And from the mountains swept the cold, rough blast;It was the hour when bells of midnight chime, And all the skies with clouds were overcast.Beside a hearth-fire blazing warm and bright An aged sire sat with his wife and child;The ev'ning lamp diffused its cheerful light, Though storms without were beating fierce and wild.
"It is a fearful night," the old man said, As nearer to the fire he drew his chair,"For those who wander homeless and unfed, The prey of poverty, and want, and care.And oh! what praise should from our hearts ascend To Him who ruleth in the earth and sky,Whose mercy doth to-night our way attend, As it hath ever in the days gone by!"
The wife looked up, a smile upon her face, That beamed with loveliness and beauty rare;
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