"What would you?" twittered in the Wren;
"These are the reckless ways of men.
I watched them bill and coo as though
They thought the sign of Spring was snow.
If men but timed their loves as we,
"Twould save this inconsistency!"

"Nay, gossip," chirped the Robin, "nay,
I like their unreflective way.
Besides, I heard enough to show
Their love is proof against the snow.
Why wait, he said, why wait for May,
When love can warm a winter's day?"

AUSTIN DO ESON.

Vignettes in Rhyme. (H. King and Co)

And as we gazed this thing upon,

The snow in the street and the wind on the door, Those twain knelt down to the little One, Minstrels and maids stand forth on the floor. And a marvellous song we straight did hear, The snow in the street and the wind on the door, That slew our sorrow and healed our care, Minstrels and maids stand forth on the floor. News of a fair and a marvellous thing,

The snow in the street and the wind on the door, Nowell, Nowell, Nowell, we sing! Minstrels and maids stand forth on the floor. WILLIAM MORRIS. The Earthly Paradise. (Ellis and White.)

FROM FAR AWAY.

FROM far away we come to you,

The snow in the street and the wind on the door, To tell of great tidings strange and true,

Minstrels and maids stand forth on the floor.

For as we wandered far and wide,

The snow in the street and the wind on the door, What hap do you deem there should us betide? Minstrels and maids stand forth on the floor.

Under a bent when the night was deep,

The snow in the street and the wind on the door, There lay three shepherds tending their sheep, Minstrels and maids stand forth on the floor.

"O ye shepherds what have ye seen,

The snow in the street and the wind on the door, To slay your sorrow and heal your teen ?" Minstrels and maids stand forth on the floor.

In an ox-stall this night we saw,

The snow in the street and the wind on the door, A Babe and a Maid without a flaw,

Minstrels and maids stand forth on the floor.

There was an old man there beside;

The snow in the street and the wind on the door, His hair was white, and his hood was wide, Minstrels and maids stand forth on the floor.

THE FIVE STARS.

THE stars came sliding from the south, By one, by two, and three;

Of love on earth was full great drouth, And careless hand to thankless mouth Set all the lewd menyie.

The stars came sliding up the sky,
By three, by four, by five;
Each seeking if it might descry
The palace where this king should lie
The angels carolled blive.

These stars since first the stars were born
They clustered all together,
Beneath the new moon's lower horn,
Like bees upon a summer thorn,

When cloudless was the weather.

The first star was a star of red,
It heard an angel sing,
"This night a maid in oxen's bed,
A queen uncrowned, a wife unwed,
Hath borne a mighty King."

The second star was bright and blue,

It heard a song above, "On Jesse's root drops down the dew, The budding rod hath bloomed anew, All peace to men of love!"

The third was yellow for to see,

It heard the voices tell,

"Now standeth in the gate the key, The gates of glory open be:

All hail, Emmanuel ! "

The fourth it listened in that steven,

This star it glittered green :

"The Wisdom hath come down from heaven,

Now worketh well the saving leaven."

Thus sang the choir unseen.

The fifth star was a little star,
A voice bespoke it low,
"Go forth into that land afar
Where in the cave the sleepers are,
To guide the sleepers, go!"

The stars they journeyed in a ring,
Into the north them gat;
Above a cave they stayed to swing,
Where rested first the white dove's wing
On holy Ararat.

There were three sleeping in the cave,
The night seemed long to them,
All listening from their living grave,
The three who 'scaped the whelming wave,
Good Japhet, Ham, and Shem.

Then up they rose, and on they yode,

The stars went on before,
A-glittering down the western road;
The stars in Bethlehem abode

Above the stable door.

The stars they shaped them to a tree,
Slid back to southern lands:
They bend above the Peaceful sea,
For head and burdened body three,
And two for blessing hands.

B. MONTGOMERIE RANKING.
Fulgencius. (Newman).

SING of the manger that cherished a living seed, Whereby we have grown

To loathe the life that is lived for a passing need, And by bread alone.

Sing of the hope that has grown to the height of Love,

For tho' lowly its birth,

It spreads like a flower which drinks in the light from above,

With its root in the earth.

Sing of the shepherds, who watching the stars by night,

On the silent hill,

Heard their witness to order triumphant, to love and delight,

"Peace and good-will."

Sing of the Magians who haply had wandered afar, Weary and wild,

Ere they heard of the light, and were led by the new-born star

To the new-born Child.

EMILY PFEIffer.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL.
MERRILY the minster bells
Peal upon the morn;
Cheerily their music tells
"Christ to-day is born."
'Tis the tale the angels told
To the shepherds in the fold,
Chanting heavenly melodies,
While God's glory filled the skies.

Let us chant that hymn sublime
That erst the angels sung,
Let every race and every clime

And every heart and tongue
Wake a world-wide song of praise,
As the joyful strain they raise-
Earth, proclaim, and Heaven reply,
"Glory be to God on high!"

Nor myrrh, nor frankincense, nor gold The offerings we bring,

As royal Magians gave of old

To Child, and God, and King. We give not part, we give the whole; We give our body, spirit, soul. We love, and worship, and obey The Human God-King born to-day.

C

In the manger we have laid

All our worldly pomp and pride,
Where with beasts the Saviour made
His first cradle, side by side:
On the mountain we have heard
Sweeter chimes than ever rang,
Or Creation's silence stirred,

Since the stars of morning sang:
One bright angel told the story,
Myriads answered him again:
"Unto God in highest, glory!

Peace on earth, good will tow'rd men." In our homes His blessed name

Brightens joy round every hearth, And its meetest place doth claim

In the Christian's evening mirth. Homes with crowded love were fair,

On the night when Thou wast born;
Fill them, Lord, with love and prayer
For the day of Thy return.
And as Thou, to make us Thine,

Stooped a mortal man to be,
Fill us with Thy life divine,
Lift our lives of love to Thee.

J. S. B. MONsell.

PEACE be thine, dear! bitter feud, Factious voices harsh and rude,

Keep away;

Nothing on thy peace intrude
This Christmas day.

Peace be thine, dear! Love and rest,
Gentle hopes and yearnings blest,

Come and stay;

God's dear peace enfold thy breast This Christmas day.

F. LANGBRIDGE.

YULE-BELLS. [Extract.]

IT is not Sabbath, yet they ring;
Listen, dear child, to them.
This is the night when Christ for us
Was born in Bethlehem.