Page:Poems, now first collected, Stedman, 1897.djvu/36

 GUESTS AT YULE

''Noël! Noël!''

Thus sounds each Christmas bell

Across the winter snow.

But what are the little footprints all

That mark the path from the church-yard wall?

They are those of the children waked to-night

From sleep by the Christmas bells and light:

Ring sweetly, chimes! Soft, soft, my rhymes!

Their beds are under the snow.

''Noël! Noël!''

Carols each Christmas bell.

What are the wraiths of mist

That gather anear the window-pane

Where the winter frost all day has lain?

They are soulless elves, who fain would peer

Within, and laugh at our Christmas cheer:

Ring fleetly, chimes! Swift, swift, my rhymes!

They are made of the mocking mist.

16