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Noel: Christmas Eve 1913 · Ririro.com - Poetry

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  Speaker 1: Noel. Christmas Eve nineteen thirteen, a frosty Christmas Eve, when
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  Speaker 1: the stars were shining, fared I forth alone, where westward
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  Speaker 1: falls the hill, and from many a village in the
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  Speaker 1: watered valley, distant music reached me. Peals of bells, a ringing,
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  Speaker 1: the constellated sounds ran, sprinkling on Earth's floor, as the
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  Speaker 1: dark vault above with stars was spangled. Or then sped
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  Speaker 1: my thoughts to keep that first Christmas of all. When
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  Speaker 1: the shepherds, watching by their folds ere the dawn, heard
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  Speaker 1: music in the fields and marveling, could not tell whether
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  Speaker 1: it were angels or the bright stars singing. Now, blessed
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  Speaker 1: be the towers that crown England, so fair, that stand
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  Speaker 1: up strong in prayer unto God for our souls. Blessed
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  Speaker 1: be their founders, said I, And our country folk who
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  Speaker 1: are ringing for Christ in the belfries tonight, with arms
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  Speaker 1: lifted to clutch, the rattling ropes that race into the
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  Speaker 1: dark above, and the mad romping din. But to me
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  Speaker 1: heard afar it was starry music, angel song, comforting as
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  Speaker 1: the comfort of Christ when he spake tenderly to his
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  Speaker 1: sorrowful flock. The old words came to me by the
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  Speaker 1: riches of time, mellowed and transfigured. As I stood on
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  Speaker 1: the hill, hearkening in the aspect of the eternal silence,