Page:Poems Dorr.djvu/456

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MIDNIGHT CHIMES
Noel! Noel! Noel! Noel!
Down yon lonely height
Hear the joyous summons pealing
Through the starry night.
Noel! Noel! Noel! Noel!
Ring the Christmas bells;
From the church-tower on the hill
Clear the music swells.

Far and near the listening mountains
Bend to catch the strain,
Dome, and peak, and shadowy fastness
Join the glad refrain,—
Noel! Noel! All the pine-trees
Feel a subtile thrill,
And the hemlock groves, responsive,
Whisper and are still.

Noel! Noel! Through the valley
Where the river goes
In and out between the meadows,
Soft the music flows,
And the river, dumbly sleeping,
Feels its cold heart beat
Answering to the pulsing rhythm
Of the anthem sweet.