3-074-926 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Christmas Bells, drawn by Miss M. Walker, 1883. 'Once more across the leafless land We hear the clash of Christmas chimes; The young and old stand hand in hand, And dream the past in present Times. There is a story in the Bells That comes in whispers through the air: Of Love to some their music tells, They sigh to others of despair! Last year we flung the window wide; 'Twas such a Christmas Eve as this; We bade the bells to greet the bride And consecrate the bridegroom s kiss. A little year! too brief, alas! To save the ship or still the wave; To-morrow morning we shall pass The flowers on her husband's grave!...Ring on, ye Christmas bells, of peace; Ring on of love that never dies: The love that lasts though life must cease, The life of deathless sympathies; Ring out the only true belief Across the meadows and the plain, The woods once more will smile in leaf; The summer flowers come again. This is the music of the chimes That crushes hate and kills despair; The gospel of the good old times Filling with love the very air; Though hope lies buried, it will rise, Though sorrow triumphs, 'twill depart; Love will re-light grief-wasted eyes, And fill with joy the empty heart'. Clement Scott. From "Illustrated London News", 1883.