IN other lands we welcomed thee from out the drifting snow,
With yule-log blazing on the hearth, beneath the mistletoe,
The hoarse wind mingled with thy chime, among the branches hoar,
And garden spectres grimly waved thy welcome to our door.
We took the wallet from thine arm in furry mantle roll’d,
And all the warmer seemed thine heart because thy hand was cold.
We took the trinkets from thy tree, and fondly yet enshrine
Full many a dear familiar name by memory link’d with thine.
To youthful eyes thy cheery face all wrinkled seemed to be,
Now Time, while aging us, has brought his evergreens for thee,
And Summer, from her treasury, holds out thy crown of flowers,
While, ah! thy yearly snows are shed on these poor heads of ours.
More warmly now we welcome thee, more thankfully we prize
The blessings that descend with thee from pure and genial skies;
Thy tread is on the crinkling hay, thy canopy the vine,
Thy carol is our “harvest-home,” the early fruits are thine.
Thro’ myrtle groves and orange bowers we love thee with to stray,
And mountain-ferns and greenery we scatter on thy way:
Right heartily we welcome thee, and joyfully we cheer
The golden days mark’d out by thee from every toiling year.
The pleasure skill with gleaming sail within the harbour glides.
The tourist gazes with delight from Ziz-zag’s stony sides,
The foot-race and the bicycle our glowing youth beguile,
And grandsires view the cricket match with patronising smile.
The driver comes from out the dust, the miner from the clay,
The bushman spreads his homely feast and bids the trav’ler stay,
In wards of sickness, deck’d for thee, resounds thy holy strain.
And love and mercy speak of thee beside the bed of pain.
And while thy joyful tidings fill each sacred aisle and dome.
Thy tokens bring a silent pray’r to lonely heart and home;
O! may they ever be to us a pledge of Love divine,
Goodwill the watchword of our lives, while Peace on earth is thine.
(Emily Mary Barton)
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Based on Topics: Love Poems, Time Poems, Nature Poems, Flowers Poems, Home Poems, Pain Poems, Smiling Poems, Summer Poems, Snow Poems, Pleasure Poems, Blessings PoemsBased on Keywords: thankfully, wallet, enshrine, grandsires, greenery, ler, evergreens, aging, crinkling, harvest-home, yule-log