Christmas Bells.

Ring out, O bells, in joyful chime!
    Again we hail the Christmas time;
In melting, mellow atmosphere,
    The crown and glory of the year.

When bitterness, distrust, and awe
    Dissolve, like ice in winter's thaw,
Beneath the genial touches of
    Amenity, good will, and love.

When flowers of affection grow,
    Like edelweiss mid alpine snow,
In lives severe and beautiless,
    Unused to warmth or tenderness.

Let goodness, grace, and gratitude
    Revive in music's interlude,
And pæan notes, till time shall cease,
    Proclaim the blessed reign of peace.

Ring, Christmas bells! for at the sound
    Sweet memories of Him abound
Who laid aside a diadem
    To be the babe of Bethlehem.

Hattie Howard

Hattie Howard is recognized for her significant contributions to 19th-century American poetry. Her work, characterized by its wit and lyrical quality, often explored themes of nature, love, and social issues. She had a unique voice that resonated with many of her contemporaries and continues to be appreciated for its depth and artistry.

Hattie Howard

On Bancroft Height.

Hattie Howard, Simple Poetry

The Beauty of Nature.

Hattie Howard, Simple Poetry

The Student Gone.

Hattie Howard, Simple Poetry

English

Suggested Poems

Explore a curated selection of verses that share themes, styles, and emotional resonance with the poem you've just read.

Christmas Fancies

When Christmas bells are swinging above the fields of snow,
We hear sweet voices ringing from lands of long ago,
    And etched on vacant places
    Are half-forgotten faces
Of friends we used to cherish, and loves we used to know -
When Christmas bells are swinging above the fields of snow.

Uprising from the ocean of the present surging near,
We see, with strange emotion, that is not free from fear,
    That continent Elysian
    Long vanished from our vision,
Youth's lovely lost Atlantis, so mourned for and so dear,
Uprising from the ocean of the present surging near.

When gloomy, gray Decembers are roused to Christmas mirth,
The dullest life remembers there once was joy on earth,
    And draws from youth's recesses
    Some memory it possesses,
...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Christmas Fancies

When Christmas bells are swinging above the fields of snow,
We hear sweet voices ringing from lands of long ago.
        And etched on vacant places,
        Are half forgotten faces
Of friends we used to cherish, and loves we used to know -
When Christmas bells are swinging above the fields of snow.

Uprising from the ocean of the present surging near,
We see, with strange emotion that is not free from fear,
        That continent Elysian
        Long vanished from our vision,
Youth's lovely lost Atlantis, so mourned for and so dear,
Uprising from the ocean of the present surging near.

When gloomy gray Decembers are roused to Christmas mirth,
The dullest life remembers there once was joy on earth,
        And draws from youth's recesses
        Some mem...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Christmas-Tide.

    Let working-clothes be laid aside,
And Industry in festal garb arrayed;
Let busy brain and hand from toil and trade
    Relax at Christmas-tide.

    As moments pass by dial, so
Let gifts go round the happy circle where
In giving and receiving each may share,
    And mutual kindness show.

    The meaning deep, like mystery,
That lies in holly-bough or mistletoe,
May thousands never fathom - yet who know
    And hail the Christmas-tree.

    So strong a hold on human thought
Has this glad day that seasons all the year
With the rich flavoring of hearty cheer,
    It ne'er shall be forgot.

    It is the milestone on life's road
Where we may lay our burdens down, and take
A look at souvenirs, for love's dear sake
    So pre...

Hattie Howard

Christmas Hymn.

Break over the waiting hill-tops,
    White dawn of the Christmas morn!
For the angels have sung through the midnight,
    That the wonderful Babe is born.

And still in the slumbering valleys,
    The night's black tents are up,
And the young moon stands on the mountains,
    Clear and fair as a silver cup.

Under the cottage rafters,
    Silent and soft and deep,
On the swart low brow of the toiler,
    Settles the dew of sleep.

And some that watch and waken,
    Are dreaming of eyes whose ray
Was long ago quenched and hidden
    Under the shroud away.

Oh, sing thy jubilant anthem
    Over the frozen mould,
And tell that wonderful story
    Again, that never grows old!

For under the year's broad shadow,
  ...

Kate Seymour Maclean

Christmas.

Old father Time, his cruel scythe
Has swung full oft around,
Since last the merry Christmas, bells
Rang out their cheerful sound.
With cruel vigor he has held
His great, impartial sway,
And many thousands mown to earth,
Who saw last Christmas day.

For some have left this world for aye,
Who dwelt with us last year;
Glad voices heard amongst us then,
We never more shall hear.
But still we'll build our Christmas fires,
And sing our Christmas songs,
And for one day forget our griefs,
Our failures and our wrongs.

Then ring, ye joyful bells, ring out;
Ye crashing cymbals fall;
And for old Christmas, hale and stout,
Sound up, ye harps and all.
Let music's loud and sweetest strain
Beat from our hearts each ill;
Let thoughts of...

Thomas Frederick Young

Christmas Chimes.

    Once more the merry Christmas bells,
        Are ringing far and wide;
Their chime in rhythmic chorus swells,
    While every brazen throat foretells,
        A joyous Christmastide.

    What is the burden of your chime,
        Ye bells of Christmastide?
    What tidings in your clangorous rhyme,
What message would your tongues sublime
        To human hearts confide?

    Our chime is of salvation's plan,
        And every Christmastide
Since Christmas bells to chime, began
    We've caroled Heaven's gift to man,
        A Saviour crucified.

Alfred Castner King