27.12.2010, 12:10
A NON-NATURAL CHRISTMAS.
O Christmas hollies ! O thrice-blessed morn !
Again with thy dear message art thou come,
A word of joy to thousands, but to some
A fable among fables, ' Christ is born ! '
Hold off the hour to which our folly leans,
When priesthood in his own white robe shall stand
Forsworn—amid the faithful evergreens !
A thief—a traitor to his own right hand !
Once perjured and ordain'd, what follows next ?
Whene'er, as preacher, to his flock he speaks,
The self-yoked sophist, fretting at his text.
Will rub against its meaning—while the weeks
And months drag on his hollow Christian year —
Woe to faint hearts ! we must not falter here.
O Christmas hollies ! O thrice-blessed morn !
Again with thy dear message art thou come,
A word of joy to thousands, but to some
A fable among fables, ' Christ is born ! '
Hold off the hour to which our folly leans,
When priesthood in his own white robe shall stand
Forsworn—amid the faithful evergreens !
A thief—a traitor to his own right hand !
Once perjured and ordain'd, what follows next ?
Whene'er, as preacher, to his flock he speaks,
The self-yoked sophist, fretting at his text.
Will rub against its meaning—while the weeks
And months drag on his hollow Christian year —
Woe to faint hearts ! we must not falter here.