Disguised He stands without in the street; Far come is He on heavy feet. O heart of mine, open thy gate; For darkness falls, and it is late! Lord of the heaven’s fairest height, Homeless in the traveler’s night, Begging my hearth, my board, my cup, That I, not He, may richly sup. O soul of mine, the board begin, And let this wondrous Beggar in! STARS OF CHEER BY CAROLINE D. SWAN The silent Christmas stars shine cool and clear Above a world of mingled joy and woe; On peaceful cottage homes, with thanks aglow For royal bounty of the grape-crowned year; And on red fields of blood, where many a tear Is wiped away by Death, a gentle foe, More merciful than they who bade it flow. Shine, silver stars, rain down your blessed cheer! Comfort the mourner with your Angel song! The Christ-Child reigns. Behold His tiny hand Upraised in benediction warm and sweet! O’er every joy and every bitter wrong The Babe of Bethlehem hath supreme command; Come, worship, kings and peoples, at His feet! CHRIST AND THE PAGAN BY JOHN B. TABB I had no God but these, The sacerdotal Trees, And they uplifted me. “_I hung upon a tree._” The sun and moon I saw, And reverential awe Subdued me day and night. “_I am the perfect light._” Within a lifeless Stone-- All other gods unknown-- I sought Divinity. “_The Corner-Stone am I._” For sacrificial feast I slaughtered man and beast, Red recompense to gain. “_So I, a Lamb, was slain._ _Yea; such My hungering Grace That where ev’r My face Is hidden, none may grope Beyond eternal Hope._” OUT OF BOUNDS BY JOHN B. TABB A little Boy of heavenly birth, But far from home to-day, Comes down to find His ball, the Earth, That Sin has cast away. O comrades, let us one and all Join in to get Him back His ball! FATHER DAMIEN BY JOHN B. TABB O God, the cleanest offering Of tainted earth below, Unblushing to Thy feet we bring-- “_A leper white as snow_!” RECOGNITION BY JOHN B. TABB When Christ went up to Calvary, His crown upon His head, Each tree unto its fellow-tree In awful silence said: “Behold the Gardener is He Of Eden and Gethsemane!” “IS THY SERVANT A DOG?” BY JOHN B. TABB So _must_ he be, who in the crowded street, Where shameless Sin and flaunting Pleasure meet, Amid the noisome footprints finds the sweet Faint vestige of Thy feet. LILIUM REGIS BY FRANCIS THOMPSON