3-074-913 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Fireside Fancies, drawn by Hal Ludlow, 1883. 'She pensive stands beside the fire, With no one near her to admire Her dress, and fan, and bangles; Yet there's a face male hearts to break, And perfect arm and elbow make - The prettiest of angles. She thinks no doubt that Christmas joys, Are very well for girls and boys, In village or in city; But she has grown since girlhood's time, The days when e'en a Pantomime, Seemed really to be witty. Yet still methinks the season brings, A host of very pleasant things, In fair concatenation; Some fly across the icebound stream, And some their dearest duty deem, The church's decoration. And Christmas brings the thought of those Who left us in the time of snows, So stunned and weary-hearted; She'll see within the embers red, Once more the faces of the dead, The ghosts of days departed. A footstep! Though the tear-drops dim Her eyes, she'll have a smile for him, And keep a score of dances: And so we'll leave her - since we know Two people find a third de trop - To all her fireside fancies'. H. Savile Clarke. From "Illustrated London News", 1883.