Christmas Day in Australia.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 958, 24 December 1881, Page 2 (Supplement)

Christmas Day in Australia.

By Saiiaim. TN Austral's shores the sun shines clear, I And cloudless is the sky, P Where Christinas seems with his good cheer ■ Time's ravage to defy. For though removed from place of birth To our warm healthful clime,' Fresh clothed he comes and brings the mirth He brought in olden timeTo us when we in years were young, (And in our fathers'days,) When carols were so blithely sung, And chimes rung in their praise. No holly hangs around our rooms, '' ' ■ No icicles on trees, Biit hero instead the wattle blooms, Our every sense to please, The Yule log graces not the hearth, We have no frost nor cold, Our ears are yet as fresh for mirth As in the days of old, And we can toast our Christmas young In sparkling ruby wines Our skill has made-our hands have wrungFrom out the luscious vine. Fruit-laden trees on every hand To gentle breezes bend; And summer over all the land His glad reign doth extend, There's we meet, ■' :' . . Gay flowers our paths adorn; Tlie soft grass springs beneath our foot, And smiles the golden corn. With friends we'll dance upon the green, At merry games we'll play; 'Twixt mirth and us shall intervene Nought on this happy day, To us for many well-spent years May Christmas hallowed be; For spite of time it still endears .Home to.the memory., And when behind our mountains blue Sol's 'golden rays decline,. To bring joy to the bid land .true To which our hearts incline, With song ami stingless jest We'll while the hours away, Till in sweet sleep we take our rest, Aiid close our Christmas day,