• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Institute of Australian Culture

Heritage, history, and heroes; literature, legends, and larrikins

  • Home
  • Articles
  • Biographies
  • Books
  • Ephemera
  • Poetry & songs
    • Recommended poetry
    • Poetry and songs, 1786-1900
    • Poetry and songs, 1901-1954
    • Rock music and pop music [videos]
    • Early music [videos]
  • Slang
  • Timeline
    • Timeline of Australian history and culture
    • Calendar of Australian history and culture
    • Significant events and commemorative dates
  • Topics

A Christmas Welcome [poem, 21 December 1878]

9 November 2015 · Leave a Comment

[Editor: A poem published in The Australian Town and Country Journal, 21 December 1878.]

A Christmas Welcome.

Though I come not with ivy and holly,
And the snows of the fierce northern yule,
Nor the jovial frolicsome folly,
Of the Abbot and Lord of misrule! —
Yet my sons of Old England remember
To welcome me here as of old,
Through the sun of my southern December,
Is as hot as my northern is cold.
And here though no Pole-star shines nightly,
’Midst the icicle dews of the sky, —
Yet the Southern Cross emblems more brightly
The sign of the Saviour on high;
And His birth-time brings kind thoughts as ever,
To gladden the bright Christmas tide;
And though oceans our old homes may sever,
Old memories they cannot divide.
So hail to thee! old father Christmas!
The Church and the hearts’ jubilee —
When friends are more friendly, and foes meet half kindly,
And all join in welcome to thee!

Though the Age is half crude, and lacks reverence,
And wide teaching means shallow, perforce, —
And new thought from old worship work’s severance,
’Midst the creeds which have guided our course;
And whether of earth or supernal,
The law of the present seems change;
Still truth is but one, and eternal!
And NEW truths may be TRUE yet look strange.
But the chief of its voices has never
Grown changed — since Christ first gave it birth, —
And it echoes at Christmas, for ever
“Peace and good will to all upon earth!”

So here’s to thee! old father Christmas,
Whatever the land or the sun —
Thou speakest of Christ, and that law which is highest,
“I say to ye — love every one.”

So wassail and welcome Old Christmas!
Made glad with kind thoughts and good cheer;
And kind readers all — both great and both small,
We wish you a happy New Year!

R. A.

Sydney, December, 1878.



Source:
The Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW), 21 December 1878, p. 1169

Filed Under: poetry Tagged With: Christmas, Christmas poetry, poem, Robert Adams, SourceTrove, year1878

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Australian flag, Kangaroo, Wattle, 100hThe Institute of Australian Culture
Heritage, history, and heroes. Literature, legends, and larrikins. Stories, songs, and sages.

Search this site

Featured books

The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses, by Banjo Paterson A Book for Kids, by C. J. Dennis  The Bulletin Reciter: A Collection of Verses for Recitation from The Bulletin The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke, by C. J. Dennis The Complete Inner History of the Kelly Gang and Their Pursuers, by J. J. Kenneally The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen The Australian Crisis, by C. H. Kirmess Such Is Life, by Joseph Furphy
More books (full text)

Featured lists

Timeline of Australian history and culture
A list of significant Australiana
Significant events and commemorative dates
Australian slang
Books (full text)
Australian literature
Rock music and pop music (videos)
Folk music and bush music (videos)
Early music (videos)
Recommended poetry
Poetry and songs, 1786-1900
Poetry and songs, 1901-1954
Australian explorers
Topics
Links

Featured posts

Advance Australia Fair: How the song became the Australian national anthem
Brian Cadd [music videos and biography]
Ned Kelly: Australian bushranger
Under the Southern Cross I Stand [the Australian cricket team’s victory song]

Some Australian authors

E. J. Brady
John Le Gay Brereton
C. J. Dennis
Mary Hannay Foott
Joseph Furphy
Mary Gilmore
Charles Harpur
Grant Hervey
Lucy Everett Homfray
Rex Ingamells
Henry Kendall
“Kookaburra”
Henry Lawson
Jack Moses
“Dryblower” Murphy
John Shaw Neilson
John O’Brien (Patrick Joseph Hartigan)
“Banjo” Paterson
Marie E. J. Pitt
A. G. Stephens
P. R. Stephensen
Agnes L. Storrie (Agnes L. Kettlewell)

Recent Posts

  • The Naval Contingent: With the Australians in China [17 October 1900]
  • Australia Day [26 January 1953]
  • Australia Day [24 January 1953]
  • Australia Day [29 January 1951]
  • Australia Day [28 January 1950]

Top Posts & Pages

  • Poetry and songs, 1786-1900
  • Australian slang
  • The Man from Snowy River [poem by Banjo Paterson]
  • The Bastard from the Bush [poem, circa 1900]
  • Timeline of Australian history and culture

Archives

Categories

Posts of note

The Bastard from the Bush [poem, circa 1900]
A Book for Kids [by C. J. Dennis, 1921]
Click Go the Shears [traditional Australian song, 1890s]
Core of My Heart [“My Country”, poem by Dorothea Mackellar, 24 October 1908]
Freedom on the Wallaby [poem by Henry Lawson, 16 May 1891]
The Man from Ironbark [poem by Banjo Paterson]
Nationality [poem by Mary Gilmore, 12 May 1942]
The Newcastle song [music video, sung by Bob Hudson]
No Foe Shall Gather Our Harvest [poem by Mary Gilmore, 29 June 1940]
Our pipes [short story by Henry Lawson]
Rommel’s comments on Australian soldiers [1941-1942]
Shooting the moon [short story by Henry Lawson]

Recent Comments

  • rob buntine on No Foe Shall Gather Our Harvest [poem by Mary Gilmore, 29 June 1940]
  • Carol on Poetry and songs, 1786-1900
  • Annie Crestani on Under the Southern Cross I Stand [the Australian cricket team’s victory song]
  • Peter Pearsall on The Clarence [poem by Jack Moses]
  • Trevor Hurst on Timeline of Australian history and culture

For Australia

Copyright © 2023 · Log in