nkv. Oh

! the snow, the beautiful anow 1 Filling

the sky and earth belcw ; Over the

housetops, over the streat, Over the

heads of the people you meet. Dancing,

flirting, skimming along — Beautiful

snow 1 it can do nothing wrong. Flying

to kiss a fair lady's cheek — Clinging

to lips in a frolicsome freak; Beautiful

snow, from the heavens above, Pure as an

angel, gentle as love. Oh 1 the snow,

the beautiful snow ! How the flakes

gather and laugh as they go Whirling

about in their maddening fun ; It plays

in its glee with every one. Chasing,

laughing, hurrying'by, It lights on the

face and sparkles the eye ; A.nd the

dogs, with a bark and a bound, Snap at

the crystals that eddy around. The town

is alive, and it's heart's in a glow. To

welcome the coming of the beautiful sno*

How wildly the crowd goes swaying along,

Hailing each other with humour and song

How the gay sledges like meteors flash

by, Bright for a moment, then lost to

the eye — Ringing, swinging, dashing

they go, Over the crust of the beautiful

snow ; Snow, so pure when it falls from

the sky, As to make one regret to see it

lie, To be trampled and tracked by the

thousand' of feet Till it blends with

the filth of the street. Once I was pure

as the snow, but I fell — Fell, like the

snow flakes, from heaven to heil Fell,

to be trampled as filth in the

streetFell, to be scoffed, to be spit

on, and beat. Pleading — cursing —

dreading to die, Selling my soul to

whoever would buy ; Dealing i*.i shame

for a morsel of bread, Hating the

living, and fearing the deadl Merciful

God 1 have I fallen so low ? And yet I

was once like the beautiful snow I Once

I was fair as the beautiful snow, With

an eye like its crystal, a heart like it

glow ; Once I was loved for my innocent

grace — Flattered and sought ftJr the

chariss of m; face. Father, mother,

sister, and all, God, and myself, I have

lost by my fall. The veriest wretch that

goes shivering by Will make a wide

swoop, lest I wander tonigh ;For For all

that is on or above me I know, There's

nothing so pure as the beautiful snow

How strange it should be that this

beaut-ifa snow Should fall on a sinner

with nowhere to go ; How strange it

should be, when night comt again, If the

snow and the ice struck my desperat

brain 1 Fainting, freezing, dying alone,

Too wicked for prayer, too weak for a

moan To be heard in the street of the

crazy town.. Gone mad in the joy of the

snow comin down ; To be and to die in my

terrible woe, ! With a bed and a shroud

of the beautifu snow. Helpless and foul

as the trampled snow — Sinner, despair

not ! Christ stoopeth 1-?^ To rescue tho

sguI that is lost in its sin, And raise

it to life and enjoyment- agaiD-,

Groaning, bleeding, dying for thee, The

Crucified hung on the accursed tree ;

His accents of mercy fall soft on thine

earls there mercy for me ? Will he hear

mj prayer ? Oh, God ! In the stream that

for sinners did flow, Wash me, and I

shall be whiter than snow