... P r now come to our jolly joyful feast Let every man be jolly. Each room with ivy leaves is dreste And every post with holly. How all our neighbours' chimneys smoke And Xmas blocks are burning. Their ovens they with bak't meats choke And all their spits are turning. ...

... dtra, other Another new gown, as I declare! J How many more is it going to be And your forehead all hid in a cloud of hair 'Tis nothing but folly that I can see! The maidens of nowadays make too free To right and to left is the money flung: We used to dress as became our degree But things have altered since I was young. Stuff, in my time, was made to wear; Gowns we had never but two or three ...

... How cheerfully the polished beams Give back the copper's comely gleams While the old clock through endless dreams Sedately ticks 's serene and patient air Let no untidyness impair Remove that hat from yonder chair, And park those sticks. A restful silence here we find Though, it is true, one calls to mind How Uncle William, having dined Extremely well, Once skidded badly on the mat, And, ...

... By F. B. Money-Coutts How shall we bury the old love With bitter tears and deep sighing For oh 'tis scarcely a cold love, And long and hard was its dying. T was born in the time of roses, Itself the fairest of flowers, And winter, plucking his posies, Still spared that blossom of ours. Deep in the earth it was rooted, But still it looked to the sky It budded, blossomed, and fruited, And then ...

... OUR POETS8 COIRHEIR FAIRIES Mother, where do fairies dwell? In the swinging jonquil bell, And whene'er they wish to roam Foxgloves offer them a home. All their goods are carried free By the heavy bumble-bee But each fairy rideth by On a flashing dragon-fly. Mother, what do fairies wear? Sparkling dew-drops in their hair; Dresses silver, grey, or dun, By the busy spider spun. Cloaks of ...

... j . By John Drinkwater. 1 _^= I 8 I S3 Old shepherd in your wattle cote, I think a thousand years are done ft Since first you took your pipe of oat ft And piped against the risen sun, ft Until his burning lips of gold iy Sucked up the drifting scarves of dew And bade you count your flocks from fold And set your hurdle stakes anew. !_ pi 3KCK ...

... All day long would summer keep Nature breathless and asleep All day long she teaches earth What a little breeze is worth 1 Hers to dazzle and to stun With the hot gold of the sun Hers the sky that clouds forsake, Hers the blue without a break And she never glances down On the grasses burnt and brown And she never sighs nor grieves For the dust upon the leaves. Oh, the clouds that keep away Oh, ...

... O dreamy, gloomy, friendly trees I came along your narrow track To bring my gifts unto your knees, And gifts did you give back. For when I brought this heart that burns, These thoughts that bitterly repine, And laid them here amongst the ferns And dews of eglantine, Ye, vastest breathers of the air, Shook down with slow and mighty poise Your coolness on the human care, Your wonder on its toys, ...

... OUR POETS' CORNER WHITE MAGIC (Oberhof, Thuringia) The road runs through the village s!reet, The roofs with Saxon eyes Have seen it taking to the woods, Where its adventure lies, Where the Grey Wizard silently Weaves spells of secret grammarye. The brook, the russet laughing girl Which by the road did trip, In magic sleep lies straight and stil1. Frost s finger on her lip, For the Grey Wizard ...

... 1. 'Ttvas the Battle of Confetti, and I danced across lhe Place With a Minmsota maiden Och a lovely little lass! I the bhov from Dublin Town, She from o'er the sea, And the Carnival King in his gingerbread crown Kep' noddin' at her and me. Ding-.t-dong ant! dong-a-ding, Happy bells are carolling Carnival is not for long, Dong-a-ding and ding-a-dong. My witty little Pierrette was such a ...

... Meet me on a moonbeam at half-past two I've such a lot of little things to whisper you. You must not be a minute late or let the people know, And don't forget you mustn't mind the snoring down below. I think I'll wear my latest suit of armour apple- green, And you shall wear your mauve gown that has the silver sheen And we will wander hand in hand and dance among the stars, And Venus' self ...

... By THOMAS HARDY Seven millions stand Emaciate, in that ancient Deltaland We here, full charged with our own maimed and dead, And coiled in throbbing conflicts slow and sore, Can soothe how slight these ails un merited Of souls forlorn upon the facing shore 1 Where naked, gaunt, in endless band on band Seven millions stand. No man can say To your great country that, with scant delay, You must, ...