A New Year

Behold! a new white world! The falling snow Has cloaked the last old year And bid him go. To-morrow! cries the oak To his lone heart, My sealèd buds shall fling Their leaves apart. To-morrow! pipes the thrush, And once again How sweet the nest that long Was full of rain. To-morrow! bleats the sheep, And one by one My little lambs shall play Beneath the sun. For us, too, let some fair To-morrow be, O Thou who weavest threads Of Destiny! Thou wast a babe on that Far Christmas Day, Let us as children go Upon Thy way. So that our hearts grown cold 'Neath time and pain, With young sweet faith may bloom All green again; That empty promises Of passing years Spring into life, and not Repenting tears; So that our deeds upon The earth may go, As innocent as lambs, And pure as snow.