Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, IN MEMORIAM A.H.H.: 28, by ALFRED TENNYSON



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

IN MEMORIAM A.H.H.: 28, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: The time draws near the birth of christ
Last Line: The merry, merry bells of yule.
Alternate Author Name(s): Tennyson, Lord Alfred; Tennyson, 1st Baron; Tennyson Of Aldworth And Farringford, Baron
Variant Title(s): Christmas Eve;christmas Bells;the Birth Of Christ;rise, Happy Morn
Subject(s): Bells; Christmas; Religion; Nativity, The; Theology


The time draws near the birth of Christ:
The moon is hid; the night is still;
The Christmas bells from hill to hill
Answer each other in the mist.

Four voices of four hamlets round,
From far and near, on mead and moor,
Swell out and fail, as if a door
Were shut between me and the sound.

Each voice four changes on the wind,
That now dilate, and now decrease,
Peace and good will, good will and peace,
Peace and good will, to all mankind.

This year I slept and woke with pain,
I almost wished no more to wake,
And that my hold on life would break
Before I heard those bells again;

But they my troubled spirit rule,
For they controll'd me when a boy;
They bring me sorrow touch'd with joy,
The merry, merry bells of Yule.




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