from the rain.

It clings within a birch-tree
Upon the moorland's edge,
Between the barren branches,
Above the swaying sedge.

The sky is gray behind it,
And when the north winds blow,
The birch-tree bends and shivers,
And tosses to and fro.

I wonder, does it haunt them,
The birds that flew away?
And will they come to seek it,
Some sunny summer day?

I wonder, does some redbreast
Upon an orange-bough,
Still picture it as plainly
As I can see it now?

Ah me! I would forget it,
Yet still, with sense of pain,
I see this little bird's-nest
Within the driving rain.

CHRISTMAS CANDLES

When the Christ-child comes again
Softly down the street to-night,
Twinkling through the window pane
Let our candles shed their light.

Though the clouds are dark above
And the golden stars are dim,
We can tell Him of our love
If we set a light for Him.

Oh, the blessed Christ-child dear,
In His robe of shining white,
Let our candles give Him cheer
As He passes by to-night!

A SONG OF THE CHRISTMAS-TREE

[Illustration: CHRISTMAS CANDLES]

We can tell Him of our love
If we set a light for Him.

Hurrah! Hurrah! for the Christmas-tree
With its glory and glitter and mystery!
Its twinkling candles that bud and bloom
Like strange bright flowers in the darkened room,
Its glistening gold and silver balls,
Its candy canes and its blue-eyed dolls,
The sugary fruits it bears,--for oh,
Where else do such wonderful sweetmeats grow?--
Its tasseled horns and its pop-corn strings
And all its myriad marvelous things!
O-ho! and ah-ha!
And a hip hurrah!
For our dear and beautiful tree, because
It grew in the gardens of Santa Claus

And he brought it here in his reindeer sleigh
From ever and ever so far away!
_So, children, come, let us make a ring
And all clasp hands as we dance and sing
To the blessed tree and the blessed night
When the Christ-child walks in the candles' light!_

Hurrah! Hurrah! for the Christmas-tree
That Santa Claus brought to you and me!
He cut it down with a silver axe--
There's a tree in each of his million packs!--
And carried it safely over the snow
And down our chimney and here,