  Ye who have scorned each other, Or injured friend or brother, In this fast-fading year; Ye who, by word or deed, Have made a kind heart bleed,— Come gather here. Let sinned against and sinning Forget their strife's beginning, And join in friendship now; Be links no longer broken, Be sweet forgiveness spoken Under the holly-bough. Ye who have loved each other, Sister and friend and brother, In this fast-fading year; Mother and sire and child, Young man and maiden mild,— Come gather here; As memory shall ponder Each past unbroken vow: Old loves and younger wooing Are sweet in the renewing Under the holly-bough. Ye who have nourished sadness, Estranged from hope and gladness, In this fast-fading year; Ye with o'erburdened mind Made aliens from your kind,— Come gather here. Let not the useless sorrow Pursue you night and morrow; If e'er you hoped, hope now,— Take heart, uncloud your faces, And join in our embraces Under the holly-bough. By Hans Christian Andersen. |
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