THE OMEN.
285
And each one went to his pillow that night
To hear fearful sound, and see nameless sight;
Not such dreams as visit the bower
Of the gay at the close of the festal hour.
But next morning rose: ‘t was a cheerful time;
For the sunshine seem'd like the summer prime,
While the bright laurel leaves round the casements spread,
And the holly with berries of shining red,
The heaven of blue, and the earth of green,
Seem'd not as if the winter had been.
Welcomed they in the Christmas morn,
With the sound of the carol, the voice of the horn.
There was white snow lay on the distant hill,
The murmuring river was cold and still;
