Saint Brandan
Saint Brandan sails the northern main;
The brotherhood of saints are glad.
He greets them once, he sails again;
So late!—such storms!—The Saint is mad!
He heard, across the howling seas,
Chime convent-bells on wintry nights;
He saw, on spray-swept Hebrides,
Twinkle the monastery-lights;
But north, still north, Saint Brandan steer'd—
And now no bells, no convents more!
The hurtling Polar lights are near'd,
The sea without a human shore.
At last—(it was the Christmas night;
Stars shone after a day of storm)—
He sees float past an iceberg white,
And on it—Christ!—a living form.
That furtive mien, that scowling eye,
Of hair that red and tufted fell—
It is—Oh, where shall Brandan fly?—
The traitor Judas, out of hell!
Palsied with terror, Brandan sate;
The moon was bright, the iceberg near.
He hears a voice sigh humbly: 'Wait!
By high permission I am here.
'One moment wait, thou holy man
On earth my crime, my death, they knew;
My name is under all men's ban—
Ah, tell them of my respite too!
'Tell them, one blessed Christmas-night—
(It was the first after I came,
Breathing self-murder, frenzy, spite,
To rue my guilt in endless flame)—
'I felt, as I in torment lay
'Mid the souls plagued by heavenly power,
An angel touch my arm, and say:
Go hence, and cool thyself an hour!
''Ah, whence this mercy, Lord?' I said.
The Leper recollect, said he,
Who ask'd the passers-by for aid,
In Joppa, and thy charity.
'Then I remember'd how I went,
In Joppa, through the public street,
One morn when the sirocco spent
Its storms of dust with burning heat;
'And in the street a leper sate,
Shivering with fever, naked, old;
Sand raked his sores from heel to pate,
The hot wind fever'd him five-fold.
'He gazed upon me as I pass'd
And murmur'd: Help me, or I die!—
To the poor wretch my cloak I cast,
Saw him look eased, and hurried by.
'Oh, Brandan, think what grace divine,
What blessing must full goodness shower,
When fragment of it small, like mine,
Hath such inestimable power!
'Well-fed, well-clothed, well-friended, I
Did that chance act of good, that one!
Then went my way to kill and lie—
Forgot my good as soon as done.
'That germ of kindness, in the womb
Of mercy caught, did not expire;
Outlives my guilt, outlives my doom,
And friends me in the pit of fire.
'Once every year, when carols wake,
On earth, the Christmas-night's repose,
Arising from the sinner's lake,
I journey to these healing snows.
'I stanch with ice my burning breast,
With silence balm my whirling brain.
Oh, Brandan! to this hour of rest
That Joppan leper's ease was pain.'—
Tears started to Saint Brandan's eyes;
He bow'd his head, he breathed a prayer—
Then look'd, and lo, the frosty skies!
The iceberg, and no Judas there!
poem by Matthew Arnold
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Related quotes
Little Saint Nick
Oooooooo
Merry christmas saint nick
Christmas comes this time each year
Oooooooo oooooooo
Well, way up north where the air gets cold
Theres a tale about christmas that youve all been told
And a real famous cat all dressed up in red
And he spends the whole year workin out on his sled
Its the little saint nick
Ooooo, little saint nick
Its the little saint nick
Ooooo, little saint nick
Just a little bobsled we call it old saint nick
But shell walk a toboggan with a four speed stick
Shes candy-apple red with a ski for a wheel
And when santa hits the gas, man, just watch her peel
Its the little saint nick
Ooooo, little saint nick
Its the little saint nick
Ooooo, little saint nick
Run run reindeer
Run run reindeer
Whoaa
Run run reindeer
Run run reindeer
He dont miss no one
And haulin through the snow at a frightenin speed
With a half a dozen deer with rudy to lead
Hes gotta wear his goggles cause the snow really flies
And hes cruisin every pad with a little surprise
Its the little saint nick
Ooooo, little saint nick
Its the little saint nick
Ooooo, little saint nick
Ahhhhhh
Oooooooo
Merry christmas saint nick
Christmas comes this time each year
Ahhhhhh
Oooooooo
Merry christmas saint nick
Christmas comes this time each year
Ahhhhhh
Oooooooo
Merry christmas saint nick
Christmas comes this time each year
song performed by by Beach Boys
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Oh Christmas Night Oh Christmas Night
Oh Christmas night oh Christmas night
So quiet all and splendor
We celebrate Christ birth and might
With candle lights so tender
For on this night is born a king
The king of peace on earth
We glorify and humbly sing
About this child and holy birth
Oh Christmas night oh Christmas night
When night's around and dark
We find his love's a guiding light
And see his angels hark
We hope this time peace will bring
And guide our footsteps all
For he's the forth of everything
The protector of big and small
Oh Christmas night oh Christmas night
The spirits of love and greeting
When each love will burn on so bright
With kindness and good treating
We hope one day peace will arrive
For every life that's living
We must therefore still on strive
Remembering what Christmas is giving
poem by Peter S. Quinn
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By The Fireside : King Witlaf's Drinking-horn
Witlaf, a king of the Saxons,
Ere yet his last he breathed,
To the merry monks of Croyland
His drinking-horn bequeathed,--
That, whenever they sat at their revels,
And drank from the golden bowl,
They might remember the donor,
And breathe a prayer for his soul.
So sat they once at Christmas,
And bade the goblet pass;
In their beards the red wine glistened
Like dew-drops in the grass.
They drank to the soul of Witlaf,
They drank to Christ the Lord,
And to each of the Twelve Apostles,
Who had preached his holy word.
They drank to the Saints and Martyrs
Of the dismal days of yore,
And as soon as the horn was empty
They remembered one Saint more.
And the reader droned from the pulpit
Like the murmur of many bees,
The legend of good Saint Guthlac,
And Saint Basil's homilies;
Till the great bells of the convent,
From their prison in the tower,
Guthlac and Bartholomaeus,
Proclaimed the midnight hour.
And the Yule-log cracked in the chimney,
And the Abbot bowed his head,
And the flamelets flapped and flickered,
But the Abbot was stark and dead.
Yet still in his pallid fingers
He clutched the golden bowl,
In which, like a pearl dissolving,
Had sunk and dissolved his soul.
But not for this their revels
The jovial monks forbore,
For they cried, 'Fill high the goblet!
We must drink to one Saint more!'
poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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Please Come Home For Christmas (live)
Bells will be ringing the glad, glad news
Oh what a Christmas to have the blues
My baby's gone (my baby's gone) I have no friends
To wish me greetings once again
Choirs will be singing Silent Night
Those Christmas carols by candlelight
Please come home for Christmas (please come home)
Please come home for Christmas (please come home)
If not for Christmas by New Year's night
Friends and relations send salutations
Just as sure as the stars shine above (yes they do)
This is Christmas, Christmas my dear
The time of year to be with the one that you love
Then won't you tell me, you'll never more roam
Christmas and New Year (Christmas and New Year's)
Will find you at home
There'll be no more sorrow, no grief or pain
I'll be happy (happy) that it's Christmas once again
song performed by by Fiona Apple
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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PARTY AT THE LEPER COLONY
Finger food and an ice cold keg
It won't cost you an arm and a leg
Dance all night to a rotten band
Come on, people, let's give 'em a hand
Saturday night it's the place to be
Everybody cut footloose with me
At the party at the leper colony
Oh, there's a party at the leper colony
Met a little lady so pretty and young
She was quite a talker till the cat got her tongue
She oozed up beside me, I turned on my charm
Well, pretty soon she was completely disarmed
I said, "Girl, now don't fall to pieces on me"
But she cried her eyes out . literally
At the party at the leper colony
Oh, there's a party at the leper colony
Hey! Hey!
Hey now, buddy, don't you give me no lip
Sorry I was using your head for a dip
There's a guy in the hot tub, I don't know who
Wait a minute, it looks like Stu
Well, hold the phone now, what do I see?
Another pretty mama got her eye on me
At the party at the leper colony
Oh, there's a party at the leper colony
There's a party at the leper colony
(Party at the leper colony)
There's a party at the leper colony
(Party at the leper colony)
Oh, there's a party at the leper colony, yeah, party at the leper colony
Well, there's a party at the lepr colony
(Party at the leper colony)
Hey!
song performed by by Weird Al Yankovic
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Please Come Home For Christmas
Bells will be ringing the glad, glad news
Oh what a christmas to have the blues
My babys gone (my babys gone) I have no friends
To wish me greetings once again
Choirs will be singing silent night
Those christmas carols by candlelight
Please come home for christmas (please come home)
Please come home for christmas (please come home)
If not for christmas by new years night
Friends and relations send salutations
Just as sure as the stars shine above (yes they do)
This is christmas, christmas my dear
The time of year to be with the one that you love
Then wont you tell me, youll never more roam
Christmas and new year (christmas and new years)
Will find you at home
Therell be no more sorrow, no grief or pain
Ill be happy (happy) that its christmas once again.
song performed by by Fiona Apple
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Kay Thompsons Jingle Bells
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh
On dasher, on dancer, on prancer, on vixen
On comet, on cupid, on donner, on blitzen
Put on your bells, your christmas bells
Come on, were going for a sleigh ride
Christmas time is here again
Come on, were going for a sleigh ride
To spread good cheer again
From the top of the chimney to the top of the wall
Dash away, dash away, dash away all
Old saint nicholas, he took a flight
The moon was shining bright
Bring out the bells
Ol saint nick was riding through the sky
You should have seen those reindeer fly
Bring out the bells, its a holiday season
Bring out the bells, its a happy time
Bring out the bells, weve got a good reason
To ring the bells and hear those pretty bells chime
song performed by by Michael W. Smith
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Please Come Home For Christmas
Written by charles mose brown and gene c. redd
Bells will be ringing the glad, glad news
Oh, what a christmas to end the blues
My babys gone, I have no friends
To wish me greetings, ooh, once again
Choirs will be singing silent night
Christmas carols by candlelight
Please come home for christmas
Please come home for christmas
If not for christmas, by new years night
Friends and relations send salutations
Sure as the stars shine above
This is christmas, yeah, christmas my dear
The time of year to be with the one you love
So wont you tell me youll never more roam
Christmas and new years will find you home
Please come home for christmas
Please come home for christmas
If not for christmas by new years night
[instrumental interlude]
Therell be no more sorrow no grief and pain
And Ill be happy, happy once again
song performed by by Vonda Shepard
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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In honour of a Little Boy who became an Angel just before Christmas
The lights are down this Christmas
The stars refuse to shine
The angels seem to have flown away
As the bells they sadly chime
You give and you take
But our hearts, it just breaks
Waiting for that chirpy little voice
For those tiny feet to make the pitter-patter noise
The tears don’t stop flowing this Christmas
As the toys are put away
No Santa can change this Christmas
Who can rewind that Goodbye Day?
Will You hold our hands this Christmas
We can’t bear to face the week
With the light snuffed out this Christmas
What good can the New year be?
Are we at the Burning Bush?
Makes us fear to draw near…
Yet our only hope, to see our little angel again
Is to hold to You and the Hope You give, through the pain…
Draw near O Lord, this Christmas
To our tired, worn and battered hearts
Pray a glimpse of Heaven You give
Where our Little Angel now plays
As he daily sees Your face
Be to us here below
Emmanuel… God with us…
poem by Dennisa Davidson
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A Christmas Carol
Welcome, sweet Christmas, blest be the morn
That Christ our Saviour was born!
Earth's Redeemer, to save us from all danger,
And, as the Holy Record tells, born in a manger.
Chorus --
Then ring, ring, Christmas bells,
Till your sweet music o'er the kingdom swells,
To warn the people to respect the morn
That Christ their Saviour was born.
The snow was on the ground when Christ was born,
And the Virgin Mary His mother felt very forlorn
As she lay in a horse's stall at a roadside inn,
Till Christ our Saviour was born to free us from sin.
Oh! think of the Virgin Mary as she lay
In a lowly stable on a bed of hay,
And angels watching O'er her till Christ was born,
Therefore all the people should respect Christmas morn.
The way to respect Christmas time
Is not by drinking whisky or wine,
But to sing praises to God on Christmas morn,
The time that Jesus Christ His Son was born;
Whom He sent into the world to save sinners from hell
And by believing in Him in heaven we'll dwell;
Then blest be the morn that Christ was born,
Who can save us from hell, death, and scorn.
Then he warned, and respect the Saviour dear,
And treat with less respect the New Year,
And respect always the blessed morn
That Christ our Saviour was born.
For each new morn to the Christian is dear,
As well as the morn of the New Year,
And he thanks God for the light of each new morn.
Especially the morn that Christ was born.
Therefore, good people, be warned in time,
And on Christmas morn don't get drunk with wine
But praise God above on Christmas morn,
Who sent His Son to save us from hell and scorn.
There the heavenly babe He lay
In a stall among a lot of hay,
While the Angel Host by Bethlehem
Sang a beautiful and heavenly anthem.
Christmas time ought to be held most dear,
Much more so than the New Year,
Because that's the time that Christ was born,
Therefore respect Christmas morn.
And let the rich be kind to the poor,
And think of the hardships they do endure,
Who are neither clothed nor fed,
And Many without a blanket to their bed.
poem by William Topaz McGonagall
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Christmas Past
Oh happy days, the snow fell over-night,
we have a white Christmas in our sight.
Only a few more days and nights,
Christmas will shine bright of white.
Remember those beautiful Christmas Eves,
when we gathered round our colorful trees.
Remember when we caroled down the street,
sang Christmas songs oh so sweet.
Memories are precious let’s not forget,
don’t do anything you might regret.
Christmas is the time of year to share,
to treasure family far and near.
This Christmas with the lights shining bright,
reflecting God’s blanket of white.
Sing sweet songs in memory,
past Christmas’s history.
Written: Dec.14/06
poem by Melvina Germain
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Christmas Comes
Christmas comes with children singing,
Christmas comes with sleigh bells ringing,
Christmas comes with frosty nights,
Christmas comes with snowball fights.
Christmas comes with Santa Claus,
Christmas comes with snowy floors,
Christmas comes with robins and reindeer,
Chsitmas comes with a hearty cheer.
Christmas comes with gold, frankincense and myrrh,
Christmas comes with Jesus' birth,
Christmas comes with angels from afar,
Christmas comes with a wondrous star.
Christmas comes now, at last,
Christmas comes, like in the past,
Christmas comes after such a long wait,
Christmas comes and it will be great.
poem by Amy Darnbrook
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Chirstmas Comes
Christmas comes with children singing,
Christmas comes with sleigh bells ringing,
Christmas comes with frosty nights,
Christmas comes with snowball fights.
Christmas comes with Santa Claus,
Christmas comes with snowy floors,
Christmas comes with robins and reindeer,
Chsitmas comes with a hearty cheer.
Christmas comes with gold, frankincense and myrrh,
Christmas comes with Jesus' birth,
Christmas comes with angels from afar,
Christmas comes with a wondrous star.
Christmas comes now, at last,
Christmas comes, like in the past,
Christmas comes after such a long wait,
Christmas comes and it will be great.
poem by Damon Robson
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This One I Picked For Christmas
How many Angels can sit atop a tree.
This one I picked for Christmas,
To bring such joy for me.
And how many lights can twinkle bright,
As stars?
Trimming branches candycaned.
That lightens up my heart!
How many gifts wished,
Will I get this year?
And how many will share Christmas,
With laughter and not tears.
How many bells will ring,
As carols are heard sung?
How many will make sure,
Goodwill is felt...
By everyone.
How many Angels can sit atop a tree.
This one I picked for Christmas,
And sits so beautifully.
Where is that magic made,
That comes we celebrate?
How can we keep it here...
With us like this always?
How many bells will ring,
As carols are heard sung?
How many will make sure,
Goodwill is felt...
By everyone.
And stays.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Please Come Home For Christmas
Please Come Home For Christmas
Bells will be ringing this sad sad news
Oh what a Christmas to have the blues
My baby's gone I have no friends
To wish me greetings once again
Choirs will be singing Silent Night
Christmas carols by candle light
Please come home for Christmas
Please come home for Christmas
If not for Christmas by New Years night
Friends and relations
Send salutations
Sure as the stars shine above
But this is Christmas
Yeah, it's Christmas my dear
It's the time of year to be with the one you love
So won't you tell me
You'll never more roam
Christmas and New Year
Will find you home
There be no more sorrow
No grief and pain
And I'll be happy, happy, once again
Ooo, there be no more sorrow
No grief and pain
And I'll be happy, Christmas, once again
song performed by by Eagles
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Saint Cloud
Soft spread the southern sumer night
Her veil of darksome blue;
Ten thousand stars combined to light
The terrace of Saint Cloud.
The evening breezes gently sigh'd,
Like breath of lover true,
Bewailing the deserted pride
And wreck of sweet Saint Cloud.
The drum's deep roll was heard afar,
The bugle wildly blew
Good-night to Hulan and Hussar
That garrison Saint Cloud.
The startled Naiads from the shade
With broken urns withdrew
And silenced was that proud cascade,
The glory of Saint Cloud.
We sate upon its steps of stone,
Nor could its silence rue
When waked, to music of our own,
The echoes of Saint Cloud.
Slow Seine might hear each lovely note
Fall light as summer dew
While through the moonless air they float
Prolong'd from fair Saint Cloud.
And sure a melody more sweet
His waters never knew,
Though music's self was wont to meet
With Princes at Saint Cloud.
Nor then, with more delighted ear,
The circle round her drew,
Than ours, when gather'd round to hear
Our songstress at Saint Cloud.
Few happy hours poor mortals pass-—
Then give those hours their due,
And rank among the foremost class
Our evenings at Saint Cloud.
poem by Sir Walter Scott
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I Heard The Bells
(henrey wadsworth)
I heard the bells on christmas day
Their old familiar carols play
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men
I thought how, as the day had come
The belfries of all christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead nor doth he sleep
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men
I heard a voice within me say
Do not despair this holy day
On christmas morn new hope is born
For peace on earth, good will to men
song performed by by Diana Ross
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Christmas Letter From Australia
’T IS Christmas, and the North wind blows; ’t was two years yesterday
Since from the Lusitania’s bows I looked o’er Table Bay,
A tripper round the narrow world, a pilgrim of the main,
Expecting when her sails unfurled to start for home again.
’T is Christmas, and the North wind blows; to-day our hearts are one,
Though you are ’mid the English snows and I in Austral sun;
You, when you hear the Northern blast, pile high a mightier fire,
Our ladies cower until it ’s past in lawn and lace attire.
I fancy I can picture you upon this Christmas night,
Just sitting as you used to do, the laughter at its height:
And then a sudden, silent pause intruding on your glee,
And kind eyes glistening because you chanced to think of me.
This morning when I woke and knew ’t was Christmas come again,
I almost fancied I could view white rime upon the pane,
And hear the ringing of the wheels upon the frosty ground,
And see the drip that downward steals in icy casket bound.
I daresay you ’ll be on the lake, or sliding on the snow,
And breathing on your hands to make the circulation flow,
Nestling your nose among the furs of which your boa ’s made,—
The Fahrenheit here registers a hundred in the shade.
It is not quite a Christmas here with this unclouded sky,
This pure transparent atmosphere, this sun midheaven-high;
To see the rose upon the bush, young leaves upon the trees,
And hear the forest’s summer hush or the low hum of bees.
But cold winds bring not Christmastide, nor budding roses June,
And when it ’s night upon your side we ’re basking in the noon.
Kind hearts make Christmas—June can bring blue sky or clouds above;
The only universal spring is that which comes of love.
And so it ’s Christmas in the South as on the North-Sea coasts,
Though we are starved with summer-drouth and you with winter frosts.
And we shall have our roast beef here, and think of you the while,
Though all the watery hemisphere cuts off the mother isle.
Feel sure that we shall think of you, we who have wandered forth,
And many a million thoughts will go to-day from south to north;
Old heads will muse on churches old, where bells will ring to-day—
The very bells, perchance, which tolled their fathers to the clay.
And now, good-night! and I shall dream that I am with you all,
Watching the ruddy embers gleam athwart the panelled hall;
Nor care I if I dream or not, though severed by the foam,
My heart is always in the spot which was my childhood’s home.
poem by Douglas Brooke Wheelton Sladen
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The Night Before Christmas
Ribbons and paper cover the floor
It's been a good Christmas, presents galore
Everyone's happy, I'm happy, too
Cause oh, what a night
Oh, what a night
Night before Christmas I had with you
Frost on the window, snow on the ground
Holiday spirit, holiday sounds
Everyone's thankful, I'm thankful, too
Cause oh, what a night
Oh, what a night
Night before Christmas I had with you
It all started underneath that mistletoe
While we were waiting up
To help ol' Santa Claus
We were making merry
In ways we'd never thought of
Then we heard those sleigh bells
Ol' Santa almost caught us
No we didn't take pictures
But I'll always remember
One very special twenty-fourth day of December
Cause oh, what a night
Oh, what a night
Night before Christmas I had with you
It all started underneath that mistletoe
While we were waiting up
To help ol' Santa Claus
We were making merry
In ways we'd never thought of
Then we heard those sleigh bells
Ol' Santa almost caught us
If we don't do it next year
Honey, I'm sure gonna miss it
Why don't we make it a new Yuletide tradition
Cause oh, what a night
Oh, what a night
Night before Christmas I had with you
Cause oh, what a night
Oh, what a night
Night before Christmas I had with you
song performed by by Toby Keith
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen
God rest you merry, gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay,
For Jesus Christ our Saviour
Was born upon this day,
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
For Jesus Christ our Saviour was born on Christmas day.
In Bethlehem in Jury
This blessed babe was born,
And laid within a manger
Upon this blessed morn;
The which his mother Mary
Nothing did take in scorn.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Jesus Christ our Saviour was born on Christmas day.
From God our Heavenly Father
A blessed Angel came,
And unto certain Shepherds
Brought tidings of the same,
How that in Bethlehem was born
The Son of God by name.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Jesus Christ our Saviour was born on Christmas day.
Fear not, then said the Angel,
Let nothing you affright,
This day is born a Saviour
Of virtue, power and might;
So frequently to vanquish all
The friends of Satan quite.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Jesus Christ our Saviour was born on Christmas day.
The Shepherds at those tidings
Rejoiced much in mind,
And left their flocks a feeding
In tempest, storm and wind,
And went to Bethlehem straightway,
This blessed babe to find.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Jesus Christ our Saviour was born on Christmas day.
But when to Bethlehem they came,
Whereas this infant lay,
They found him in a manger
Where oxen feed on hay,
His mother Mary kneeling
Unto the Lord did pray.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Jesus Christ our Saviour was born on Christmas day.
Now to the Lord sing praises,
All you within this place,
And with true love and brotherhood
Each other now embrace;
This holy tide of Christmas
All others doth deface.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Jesus Christ our Saviour was born on Christmas day.
poem by Anonymous Americas
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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