Jasper County Democrat, Volume 23, Number 73, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 December 1920 — CHRISTMAS BELLS [ARTICLE]

CHRISTMAS BELLS

Th« great yule logs are blazing high, The halls with holly green are drest. And blithsome maids and merry lads Are gayly clad In all their best. And have ye seen the fairest maid That er6 hath dwelt 'tween sea and sea? • And for my love and for my faith. Think ye she'll bring a gift to me? O, ring, ye Joy-bells, gayly ring! O, merry minstrels, harp and sing! Fill every heart with Christmas cheer, For Christmas comes but once a year. The yule fire blazes warm and high. On oakened rafter, blackened wall; It shines upon the fairest maid, As down she dances thro’ the hall. I fling my weary harp aside, (And will she stoop to such as I?) I haste to meet her underneath The mystic branches hanging high. 1 O, ring, ye Joy-bells, gayly ring! O, merry minstrels, harp and sing! O, fill my heart with Christmas cheer, For Christmas comes but once a year. Who hath so rare or fair a gift As this my love hath brought to me? For I was but a minstrel lad, A dainty, high-born maid was she. Yet with her lips her heart she gave. Her heart, all pure as Christmas snow. And for her love and for her faith, Fourth unto Joust and war I’ll go. O, ring, ye Joy-bells, gayly ring! O, heart of mine, rejoice and sing, For Christmas love and Christmas cheer Shall bless our lives the whole round year. . —Annie Louise Brackenridge.