The Christmas Revels
The Shortest Day
by Susan Cooper
And so the Shortest Day came and the year diedAnd everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white worldCame people singing, dancing,To drive the dark away.They lighted candles in the winter trees;They hung their homes with evergreen;They burned beseeching fires all night longTo keep the year alive.And when the new year's sunshine blazed awakeThey shouted, revelling.Through all the frosty ages you can hear themEchoing behind us - listen!All the long echoes, sing the same delight,This Shortest Day,As promise wakens in the sleeping land:They carol, feast, give thanks,And dearly love their friends,And hope for peace.And now so do we, here, now,This year and every year.
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