rose,
A joy is folded in my heart; and when
I think on poets nurtured 'mong the throes
And by the lowly hearths of common men,--
Think of their works, some song, some swelling ode
With gorgeous music growing to a close,
Deep muffled as the dead-march of a god,--
My heart is burning to be one of those.

_Alexander Smith._

AROUND THE CHRISTMAS LAMP.

The wind may shout as it likes without;
It may rage, but cannot harm us;
For a merrier din shall resound within,
And our Christmas cheer will warm us.
There is gladness to all at its ancient call,
While its ruddy fires are gleaming,
And from far and near, o'er the landscape drear,
The Christmas light is streaming.

All the frozen ground is in fetters bound;
Ho! the yule-log we will burn it;
For Christmas is come in ev'ry home,
To summer our hearts will turn it.
There is gladness to all at its ancient call,
While its ruddy fires are gleaming;
And from far and near, o'er the landscape drear,
The Christmas light is streaming.

_J. L. Molloy._

CHRISTMAS-EVE.

Alone--with one fair star for company,
The loveliest star among the hosts of night,
While the gray tide ebbs with the ebbing light--
I pace along the darkening wintry sea.
Now round the yule-log and the glittering tree
Twinkling with festive tapers, eyes as bright
Sparkle with Christmas joys and young delight
As each one gathers to his family.

But I--a waif on earth where'er I roam--
Uprooted with life's bleeding hopes and fears,
From that one heart that was my heart's sole home,
Feel the old pang pierce through the severing years,
And as I think upon the years to come,
That fair star trembles through my falling tears.

_Mathilde Blind._

WONDERLAND.

Lo! I will make my home
In the beautiful Land of Books;
Where the friends of childhood roam
Through most delightful nooks.

I'll rent the unfinished floor
In Aladdin's palace built,
Whose walls, to the outer door,
Are ivory and gilt.

And the Caliph--Haroun--there
Will pass in his deft disguise;
But him I'll know by his air
So grand, and his eagle eyes.

And Cinderella, too,
Will weep when her sisters whip her:
And I'll be the Prince--or you--
Who will find her crystal slipper.

And O, what fun it will be
With Rob