Christmass Eve.
O
fiery ſstars, O frosty ſskies,1
O frozen field and fen !2
O paſssionate ſsea whose melodieſs3
Spring deep in hearts of men !4
Hear me to-night ! o’er lonely hills5
The keen wind comes like wine,—6
One word ye upland paſsture fills,—7
She’s mine !8
O liſsten, liſsten, field and lane,9
And brook beloved of old !10
O chime it, Chriſstmaſss bells, again,11
Acroſss the darkling fold !12
O echoes of ye gabled farm,13
Fling up the ſsong above,—14
I hold her cloſse, I claſsp her warm,15
My Love !16
A man and a woman embrace in the foreground. They stand on a path that leads back
toward a dark house. Leafless trees line the
path and surround the house. The top-right and bottom-left corners of the illustration
are empty and the poem is separated into
these spaces. In a rectangular frame in the bottom-left corner, two cherubs and a
pair of hearts shot through with an arrow hold up
a draping cloth. The entire illustration is contained within a single-ruled border.
1/2 page.