A Soldier’s Christmas Eve published December 27, 1862
In a southern forest gloomy and old,
So lately the scene of a terrible fight,
A soldier, alone in the dark and cold,
Is keeping the watch tonight.
As he paces his round he sees the light
Of his comrades’ campfire, gleaming far,
Through the dusky wood, and one bright star
Looks down with a twinkle of light and love
From the frosty sky that bends above.
Large, cler and bright in the far-off skies
It twinkles and glimmers there alone
Like the blessed Bethlehem star that shone
On the shepard’s wondering eyes.
As he watches it slowly, sweetly rise
His heart is touched by its gentle ray.
And away, away,
His thoughts on the wings of facny stray,
He forgets the night with its frosty air,
And cheerless blast, that every where
Moans load through the branches black and bare,
He is thinking now of the little band
In his boyhood home, whose faces bright
Are beaming with happiness as they stand
Round the Christmas tree tonight,
And each innocent game and mirthful song.
Ah! Vision as bright as fairy land!
Like a broken dream, it will not stay,
He raises his weather-beaten hand
And dashes a tear away.