The Big Book of Christmas

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The Big Book of Christmas Page 132

by Anton Chekhov


  * * *

  Dorothy stared about for a moment, and then, suddenly remembering the Caravan, she jumped up and ran to the window. It was snowing hard, and she saw through the driving snowflakes that the Highlander and Sir Walter Rosettes were standing on their pedestals, complacently watching the people hurrying by with their Christmas parcels; and as for the Admiral, he was standing on his pedestal, with a little pile of snow like a sugar-loaf on top of his hat, and intently gazing across the street through his spy-glass.

  All Through the Night (Christmas Carol)

  All Through the Night

  Sleep my child and peace attend thee,

  All through the night

  Guardian angels God will send thee,

  All through the night

  Soft the drowsy hours are creeping

  Hill and vale in slumber steeping,

  I my loving vigil keeping

  All through the night.

  * * *

  While the moon her watch is keeping

  All through the night

  While the weary world is sleeping

  All through the night

  O'er thy spirit gently stealing

  Visions of delight revealing

  Breathes a pure and holy feeling

  All through the night.

  * * *

  [Alternate second verse]

  * * *

  Angels watching ever round thee

  All through the night

  In thy slumbers close surround thee

  All through the night

  They will of all fears disarm thee,

  No forebodings should alarm thee,

  They will let no peril harm thee

  All through the night.

  Angels We Have Heard on High (Christmas Carol)

  Angels We Have Heard on High

  Angels we have heard on high

  Sweetly singing o’er the plain

  And the mountains in reply

  Echoing their joyous strains

  * * *

  Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

  Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

  * * *

  Shepherds, why this jubilee?

  Why your joyous strains prolong?

  What the gladsome tidings be?

  Which inspire your heavenly songs?

  * * *

  Gloria

  * * *

  Come to Bethlehem and see

  Christ Whose birth the angels sing;

  Come, adore on bended knee,

  Christ, the Lord, the newborn King.

  * * *

  Gloria

  * * *

  See Him in a manger laid,

  Jesus, Lord of heaven and earth;

  Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,

  With us sing our Savior's birth.

  * * *

  Gloria

  Away in the Manger (Christmas Carol)

  Away in the Manger

  Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,

  The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head.

  The stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay,

  The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

  * * *

  The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes,

  But little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes.

  I love thee, Lord Jesus! look down from the sky,

  And stay by my cradle till morning is nigh.

  * * *

  Be near me, Lord Jesus; I ask thee to stay

  Close by me forever, and love me I pray.

  Bless all the dear children in thy tender care,

  And take us to heaven to live with thee there.

  Carol of the Bells (Christmas Carol)

  Carol of the Bells

  Hark how the bells,

  Sweet silver bells,

  All seem to say,

  "Throw cares away!"

  * * *

  Christmas is here,

  Bringing good cheer,

  To young and old,

  Meek and the bold.

  * * *

  Ding dong ding dong

  That is their song

  With joyful ring

  All caroling.

  * * *

  One seems to hear

  Words of good cheer

  From ev'rywhere

  Filling the air.

  * * *

  O, how they pound,

  Raising the sound,

  O'er hill and dale,

  Telling their tale.

  * * *

  Gaily they ring

  While people sing

  Songs of good cheer,

  Christmas is here.

  * * *

  Merry, Merry, Merry,

  Merry Christmas!

  Merry, Merry, Merry,

  Merry Christmas!

  * * *

  Onward they send,

  On without end,

  Their joyful tone

  To ev'ry home:

  * * *

  Hark! How the bells,

  Sweet silver bells,

  All seem to say,

  "Throw cares away!"

  * * *

  Christmas is here,

  Bringing good cheer,

  To young and old,

  Meek and the bold.

  * * *

  Ding-dong, ding-dong!

  That is their song

  With joyful ring,

  All caroling.

  * * *

  One seems to hear,

  Words of good cheer,

  From ev'rywhere,

  Filling the air.

  * * *

  O how they pound,

  Raising the sound,

  O'er hill and dale,

  Telling their tale.

  * * *

  Gaily they ring

  While people sing

  Songs of good cheer,

  Christmas is here!

  * * *

  Merry, Merry, Merry,

  Merry Christmas!

  Merry, Merry, Merry,

  Merry Christmas!

  * * *

  Onward they send,

  On without end,

  Their joyful tone

  To ev'ry home.

  Deck the Halls (Christmas Carol)

  Deck the Halls

  Deck the hall with boughs of holly,

  Fa la la la la la la la la.

  'Tis the season to be jolly,

  Fa la la la la la la la la.

  Don we now our gay apparel

  Troll the ancient Christmas carol,

  Fa la la la la la la la la.

  See the blazing yule before us,

  Fa la la la la la la la la.

  Strike the harp and join the chorus.

  Fa la la la la la la la la.

  Follow me in merry measure,

  While I tell of Christmas treasure,

  Fa la la la la la la la la.

  Fast away the old year passes,

  Fa la la la la la la la la.

  Hail the new, ye lads and lasses!

  Fa la la la la la la la la.

  Sing we joyous all together,

  Heedless of the wind and weather,

  Fa la la la la la la la la.

  God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen (Christmas Carol)

  God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen

  God rest ye, merry gentlemen; let nothing you dismay,

  For Jesus Christ, our Saviour, was born on Christmas-day.

  The dawn rose red o’er Bethlehem, the stars shone through the gray,

  When Jesus Christ, our Saviour, was born on Christmas-day.

  God rest ye, little children; let nothing you affright,

  For Jesus Christ, your Saviour, was born this happy night;

  Along the hills of Galilee the white flocks sleeping lay,

  When Christ, the child of Nazareth, was born on Christmas-day.

  God rest ye, all good Christians; upon this blessed morn

  The Lord of all good Christians was of a woman born:

&n
bsp; Now all your sorrows He doth heal, your sins He takes away;

  For Jesus Christ, our Saviour, was born on Christmas-day.

  Good King Wenceslas (Christmas Carol)

  Good King Wenceslas

  Good King Wenceslas looked out, on the Feast of Stephen,

  When the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even;

  Brightly shone the moon that night, tho' the frost was cruel,

  When a poor man came in sight, gath'ring winter fuel.

  * * *

  "Hither, page, and stand by me, if thou know'st it, telling,

  Yonder peasant, who is he? Where and what his dwelling?"

  "Sire, he lives a good league hence, underneath the mountain;

  Right against the forest fence, by Saint Agnes' fountain."

  * * *

  "Bring me flesh, and bring me wine, bring me pine logs hither:

  Thou and I shall see him dine, when we bear them thither. "

  Page and monarch, forth they went, forth they went together;

  Through the rude wind's wild lament and the bitter weather.

  * * *

  "Sire, the night is darker now, and the wind blows stronger;

  Fails my heart, I know not how; I can go no longer."

  "Mark my footsteps, good my page. Tread thou in them boldly

  Thou shalt find the winter's rage freeze thy blood less coldly."

  * * *

  In his master's steps he trod, where the snow lay dinted;

  Heat was in the very sod which the saint had printed.

  Therefore, Christian men, be sure, wealth or rank possessing,

  Ye who now will bless the poor, shall yourselves find blessing.

  Hark The Herald Angels Sing (Christmas Carol)

  Hark The Herald Angels Sing

  Hark! The herald-angels sing

  "Glory to the newborn king;

  Peace on earth and mercy mild,

  God and sinners reconciled"

  Joyful all ye nations rise,

  Join the triumph of the skies

  With the angelic host proclaim

  "Christ is born in Bethlehem"

  * * *

  Hark! The herald-angels sing

  "Glory to the new-born king"

  * * *

  Christ, by highest heaven adored

  Christ, the everlasting Lord,

  Late in time behold Him come

  Offspring of a Virgin's womb:

  Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,

  Hail the incarnate Deity

  Pleased as man with man to dwell

  Jesus, our Emmanuel

  * * *

  Hark! The herald-angels sing

  "Glory to the newborn King"

  * * *

  Hail the Heaven-born Prince of Peace!

  Hail the Sun of Righteousness!

  Light and life to all He brings,

  Risen with healing in His wings;

  Mild He lays His glory by

  Born that man no more may die

  Born to raise the sons of earth

  Born to give them second birth

  * * *

  Hark! The herald angels sing

  "Glory to the new-born king"

  I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day (Christmas Carol)

  I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

  I heard the bells on Christmas Day

  Their old, familiar carols play,

  * * *

  and wild and sweet

  The words repeat

  * * *

  Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

  * * *

  And thought how, as the day had come,

  The belfries of all Christendom

  * * *

  Had rolled along

  The unbroken song

  * * *

  Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

  * * *

  Till ringing, singing on its way,

  The world revolved from night to day,

  Longfellow's original lyrics have been adapted and

  set to music by a broad array of musicians including

  Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Jimmie Rogers, and of course,

  the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

  * * *

  A voice, a chime,

  A chant sublime

  * * *

  Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

  * * *

  Then from each black, accursed mouth

  The cannon thundered in the South,

  * * *

  And with the sound

  The carols drowned

  * * *

  Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

  * * *

  It was as if an earthquake rent

  The hearth-stones of a continent,

  * * *

  And made forlorn

  The households born

  * * *

  Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

  * * *

  And in despair I bowed my head;

  "There is no peace on earth," I said;

  * * *

  "For hate is strong,

  And mocks the song

  * * *

  Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

  * * *

  Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

  "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

  * * *

  The Wrong shall fail,

  The Right prevail,

  * * *

  With peace on earth, good-will to men."

  It Came Upon a Midnight Clear (Christmas Carol)

  It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

  It came upon the midnight clear,

  That glorious song of old,

  From angels bending near the earth,

  To touch their harps of gold:

  "Peace on the earth, goodwill to men

  From heaven's all-gracious King."

  The world in solemn stillness lay,

  To hear the angels sing.

  * * *

  Still through the cloven skies they come,

  With peaceful wings unfurled,

  And still their heavenly music floats

  O'er all the weary world;

  Above its sad and lowly plains,

  They bend on hovering wing,

  And ever o'er its babel sounds

  The blessèd angels sing.

  * * *

  Yet with the woes of sin and strife

  The world has suffered long;

  Beneath the angel-strain have rolled

  Two thousand years of wrong;

  And man, at war with man, hears not

  The love-song which they bring;

  O hush the noise, ye men of strife,

  And hear the angels sing.

  * * *

  And ye, beneath life's crushing load,

  Whose forms are bending low,

  Who toil along the climbing way

  With painful steps and slow,

  Look now! for glad and golden hours

  come swiftly on the wing.

  O rest beside the weary road,

  And hear the angels sing!

  * * *

  For lo!, the days are hastening on,

  By prophet bards foretold,

  When with the ever-circling years

  Comes round the age of gold

  When peace shall over all the earth

  Its ancient splendors fling,

  And the whole world give back the song

  Which now the angels sing.

 

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