Christmas Bells.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1812, 16 February 1884, Page 2 (Supplement)

Christmas Bells.

Hark I as the silvery sounds proclaim In tremulous tones the Messiah's name, Borne on the wings of the summer breeze — Balmy as breath of the tropic seas, Loaded with rarer perfumed store Than breezes wafted from Araby's shore, Tolling the song of redemption fair In the stilly breath of the morning air, Waking the mem'riea with its chimes Of the northern lands thro' the southern climes, Of the lands of romance and regions old Thro' the virgin land with the crown of gold, Of the cold and wintry western isles Thro' the Austral land of the sunny smiles. Hark to the tones that rise and swell, The quivering tones of the Christmas bell I That throbs and joys iv ita belfried pride, And swells thro' the tremulous welkin wide, With its song of praise for the mystic sign, That led to the cradled Child Divine, To the lowly stable, the oxen pen, Those favored eastern shepherd men. List to the voice of the Christmas bell, Its monody deep in the village dell, As it hangs in the fork of an aged gum, Far, far from the sound of the city's hum. How it tells its stoiy of joy aloud To the wondering, simple, rustic crowd, As it swells on the breeze o'er the valley's breast, Where the shadowy wings of creation rest, Unoped till now since the wprld began From the mystic sleep of creation's plan. Hark to the Christmas chimes that tell Of the cadence sweet of another bell — That hung in the ivied tower on high In the old church-yard of the hamlet nigh — When hearts, now trending graveward, glowed In the realms of youth and hope's abode 1 Nor the colder clime of the northern main Could the spirit of youth untamed restrain ; Nor the chilling snows nor the pinioned wave, The soaring flight of their wings enslave : Like the captive bird from thraldom's chain They soared from the ca^e unloos'd amain, And sped thro' the trackless waste anon, Thro' wintry skies and summer sun. And what have we gained by the flight we've ta'en ? A smiling land and a life of pain 1 A sultry sun with its golden dart— An alien life and a withered heart 1 Ah ! no, not alone ; for a race behold Of the pioneers of the days of old — The scions fair with the dawning glow, Of the genius of older lands I trow, That haply may in the future times Outvie the sons of the northern climes, T i whom the voice of the Christmas bells No story of cold and of famine tells; But a token bright, and a hallowed sign Of Redemption's mystic grace devino. —P. K. O'Hara. Clifton Hill.