December 24

I sat alone, because of Thy hand.

"O PEARL, so gay with pearls," quoth I,— "O Pearl that in my loneliness

Art yearned for when at night I lie

Sole comrade of my own distress,—

Since over thee the grasses twine,

No love to mine with love replies.

May liking, love, and joy be thine,—

The strifeless bourne of Paradise.

Such weird as brought thee hither here,

With plight of sorrow hath me undone;

Now are we twayned that were so dear,

And in love's life were but as one."

PEARL

(fourteenth

century)

rendered

into

modern

verse by

S. WEIR

MITCHELL

CHRISTMAS