Father of Lights, to Thee I give
These scattered notes; and as they glide
O’er hilltops bright and valleys wide;
O’er hamlet, old with penury,
Or palace filled with luxury;
O’er city and o’er wilderness;
O’er hearts in gladness or distress,
O, give them, Lord, Thy smile indeed,
And make them like the winged seed,
That spreads on high its silken plumes,
Comes softly down, takes root and blooms,
Forever in the heart to live.
WILD-BIRD.
“THERE’S A BABY BORN”
Hark! the shining stars are singing,
And the azure skies are ringing:
Angels joyful news are bringing,
“There’s a baby born.”
Child of Deity, unfolding
In a form of heavenly molding;
Endless life in frailest holding,
Sweet as rosy morn!
“DID YOU KNOW?”
The soft winds played in the summer grove,
That the sunlight made aglow,
When a small face peered through the garden gate
’Mong the roses pure as snow:
And in sweet, shy tones came the wondrous words,
“We’ve a baby; did you know?”
The passer-by caught the accents soft,
And the words seemed to linger there,
Like the fragrant breath of the sweet June rose
On the summer’s balmy air.
And the stranger smiled ’neath his load of cares,
And the sunlight seemed to glow
With a brighter beam, as the echoes came,
“We’ve a baby; did you know?”
And all the way from the cottage bright
Where our mother Eve once sung,
The same sweet words have been spoken oft;
And the echoes clear have rung
Through the summer glades and upon the hills
That were wrapped in robes of snow,
The sweet child voices oft have said,
“We’ve a baby; did you know?”
We all forget what our griefs have been,
And the toils and tears and strife,
As the wee bright angels come to earth,
Just born to an endless life;
And the words will fall like a holy thrill,
As adown life’s path we go,
And listen yet to the echoes sweet,
“We’ve a baby; did you know?”