Cometh before our misty eyes That other little face; And we clasp, in tender, reverent wise, That love in the old embrace. Dearest, the Christ-Child walks to-night, Bringing His peace to men; And He bringeth to you and to me the light Of the old, old years again: Bringeth the peace of long ago When a wee one clasped your knee And lisped of the morrow,--dear one, you know,-- And here come back is he! Dearest, 'tis sometimes hard to say That all is for the best, For, often in a grievous way, God's will is manifest. But in the grace of this holy night That bringeth us back our child, Let us see that the ways of God are right, And so be reconciled. THE DOINGS OF DELSARTE. IN former times my numerous rhymes excited general mirth, And I was then of all good men the merriest man on earth; And my career From year to year Was full of cheer And things, Despite a few regrets, perdieu! which grim dyspepsia brings; But now how strange and harsh a change has come upon the scene! Horrors appall the life where all was formerly so serene: Yes, wasting care hath cast its snare about my honest heart, Because, alas! it hath come to pass my daughter's learned Delsarte. In flesh and joint and every point the counterpart of me, She grew so fast she grew at last a marvellous thing to see,-- Long, gaunt, and slim, each gangling limb played stumbling-block to t'other, The which excess of awkwardness quite mortified her mother. Now, as for me, I like to see the carriages uncouth Which certify to all the shy, unconscious age of youth. If maidenkind be pure of mind, industrious, tidy, smart, What need that they should fool away their youth upon Delsarte? In good old times my numerous rhymes occasioned general mirth, But now you see Revealed in me The gloomiest bard on earth. I sing no more of the joys of yore that marked my happy life, But rather those depressing woes with which the present's rife. Unreconciled to that gaunt child, who's now a fashion-plate, One song I raise in Art's dispraise, and so do I fight with Fate: This gangling bard has found it hard to see his counterpart Long, loose, and slim, divorced from him by that hectic dude, Delsarte.