Page:The Seaside and the Fireside.djvu/90



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;