On Christmas Eve

In byre and barn the mows are brim with sheaves, Where stealeth in with phosphorescent tread The glimmering moon, and, ’neath his wattled eaves, The kennelled hound unto the darkness grieves His chilly straw, and from his gloom-lit shed, The wakeful cock proclaims the midnight dread. With mullioned windows, ’mid its skeleton trees, Beneath the moon the ancient manor stands, Old gables rattle in the midnight breeze, Old elms make answer to the moaning seas Beyond the moorlands, on the wintry sands, While drives the gust along the leafless lands.