The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Christmas Faggot, by Alfred Gurney

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

Title: A Christmas Faggot

Author: Alfred Gurney

Release Date: January 20, 2009 [EBook #27851]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CHRISTMAS FAGGOT ***

Produced by Bryan Ness, Louise Pattison and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)

A CHRISTMAS FAGGOT

[Illustration: THAT AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW [Cross]
TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER.]

A CHRISTMAS FAGGOT

BY

ALFRED GURNEY, M.A.

VICAR OF S. BARNABAS', PIMLICO

AUTHOR OF 'THE VISION OF THE EUCHARIST AND OTHER POEMS' ETC.

'The Darling of the world is come,
And fit it is we finde a roome
To welcome Him. The nobler part
Of all the house here is the heart,
Which we will give Him, and bequeath
This hollie and this ivie wreath
To do Him honour who's our King,
The Lord of all this revelling'
HERRICK, _A Christmas Carol_

LONDON
KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, & CO., 1 PATERNOSTER SQUARE
1884

(_The rights of translation and of reproduction are reserved_)

_TO_

_MY GODCHILDREN_

ETHEL, ALBINIA,
CYRIL, BASIL,
BERTRAM, WILFRID,
LOUISE, HELEN,
ARTHUR.

When the Angel of the waters
With a gold and silver wing
Gently stirred the wave baptismal,
Heard ye not their carolling
Who of old to Eastern shepherds
Heralded their King?

To the shepherds of His people
Still those angel-voices tell
How God's river feeds the fountain
Opened by Emmanuel,
Yielding the baptismal waters
Of salvation's well.

Children, you have passed those waters,
Love-begotten from the dead;
Will you make a gallant promise
When my verses you have read--
'We will trace life's lovely river
To the Fountain-head'?

LOCH LEVEN: 1884.

PREFACE.

Most of the following poems have appeared in the 'S. Barnabas' Parish
Magazine.' For my