Christmas tree

“ It is quite another bird to that which is called a robin here: it is smaller and rounder, and has a redder breast and bright dark eyes, and lives and sings at home through the winter. A Christmas tree is a fir-tree—just such a one as that outside the door—brought into the house and covered with lights and presents. Picture to yourself our fir-tree lighted up with tapers on all the branches, with dolls, and trumpets, and bon-bons, and drums, and toys of all kinds hanging from it like fir-cones, and on the tip-top shoot a figure of a Christmas Angel in white, with a star upon its head. ”

“ And so, every winter, the fir-tree blossoms out in marvelous blooms of color and gold! Her branches are hung with wondrous fruits such as never grew on a summer tree! Nuts are there, and more holly berries than the holly-tree herself ever showed! And high above, crowning the glorified little fir-tree, the Christmas star sheds its rays in a blessing never bestowed on any other tree! ”

“ Right in the very heart of Christmas-tree Land there was a forest of firs that pointed to the sky as straight as steeples. A hush lay over the forest, as if there were something very wonderful there, that might be meant for you if you were quiet and waited for it to come. Perhaps you have felt like that when you walked down the aisle of a church, with the sun shining through the lovely glass in the windows. Men have often called the woods "temples"; so there is, after all, nothing so very strange in having a preacher live in the midst of the fir forest that grew in Christmas-tree Land. ”

“ He will never be satisfied unless we hang it on too."
"Oh, yes," said some one else who was helping to decorate the tree; "we will hang it here on the very top."
So the little star hung on the highest branch of the Christmas-tree.
That evening all the candles were lighted on the Christmas-tree, and there were so many that they fairly dazzled the eyes; and the gold and silver balls, the fairies and the glass fruits, shone and twinkled in the light; and high above them all shone the golden star. ”

“ You can keep the preparation of the living tree absolutely secret and make it a complete surprise, for it does not have to be set up where all may see in order to be decorated, and no hint of its existence need be given until the time arrives, the door is thrown open and the beautiful, sparkling Christmas tree glides slowly into the room. ”

“ Apples and oranges on one tree!"
"That sounds very strange," quoth little Willee.
"No flowers bloom there, snowy white,
Yet with these fruits—a curious sight—
Are oft seen flowers both red and white!
Should you climb to the top without a fall,
Your head might bump against the wall,
But not against the sky, you see,
For indoors-stands the Christmas-tree!"
"You tell very big stories," quoth little Willee.
"No birdie there doth build its nest,
No king-bird, blue-bird, robin redbreast,
Yet eggs thereon are often seen. ”

“ So the front-room door was thrown open and in they went, first Anne Marie and Ailie and Patty, carrying Isabel, and then Grandmother and Mother and Father close behind.
The first thing they saw, that filled all one side of the room, was—well, can’t you guess? A Christmas Tree! A great, shining Christmas Tree that touched the ceiling of the room and spread out its branches far and wide on either hand. A great, shining Christmas Tree, covered with glittering balls and bells and chains, with beautiful stars and candles of every hue. ”

“ My heart is as heavy as lead, and if it were not that I dreaded the cold so much, I’d fly to the North, where they are having a grand time to-day with their Christmas trees, and the children all so happy.”
“Fly to the North!” said Mr. Paroquet, with a shudder. “Fly to that horrid place where they have ice and snow the year round, with nothing green or bright, unless it’s that Christmas-tree you speak of! Pray, may I ask what kind of a tree that is? Is it like this magnolia, or that palm across the river, waving its fans in the breeze, or that orange-tree where you are sitting? ”

“ She decided to ask the other trees in the forest.
So she asked the oak, the pine, and the fir, but they were so proud and stately they did not even hear her.
Then she asked the beautiful white birch that stood near by. “You have no work to do,” said the birch, “because you can never grow large enough. Perhaps you might be a Christmas tree, but that is all.”
“What is a Christmas tree?” asked the little spruce. ”

“ A frieze had already been made around the walls of the room with branches of the pepper-tree, whose feathery green leaves and coral-colored branches of berries made a beautiful decoration. Large bunches of the dark green eucalyptus had been sawed off and so arranged that they made frames of the green around the two windows whose white curtains the good grossmutter had washed and ironed the day before. In the center of the room was the Christmas tree on which hung the treasures worked by little hands. ”

“ If we will go from our forest vigil to the hearth in any home we will find the world-ash, no longer weird and awesome with the fates sitting silent at its foot, but transformed into the very symbol of light and happiness and cheer, the Christmas tree. In the light of twenty centuries around the Yule log we have forgotten to be afraid and have made out of our weird dreams friendly fancies. Where once the fearsome dragon twined about the sun-tree we simulate his folds with strings of pop-corn. The unquenchable lights that flamed upon its twigs are now twinkling candles. ”

“ But, of all the Christmas sights, the Christmas-trees and the dolls were the most striking. The trees marched about like Birnam Wood coming to Dunsinane. There were solid family men going off with solid, respectable trees, and servants in livery condescending to stalk away with trees of the most lofty and aristocratic stature; and many a poor woman dragging along a sickly, stunted child with one hand and a sickly, stunted tree with the other. ”

“ The stars shone with an especial brilliancy overhead and between the dark branches of the pines, so that each one they passed was a Christmas tree in itself, magically, celestially lighted, yet not so beautiful, oh not so beautiful by half, as the one that would soon delight their eyes! The snow was very crisp under their feet; yet even so, it sifted into their broken shoes. But no one was thinking of broken shoes. There is a time for all things! ”

“ And all about them, arranged in the most orderly manner, were rows and rows—tiers, perhaps, I should say—of Christmas trees—real, genuine Christmas trees of every kind and size. Some loaded with toys of the most magnificent kind, some simpler, some with but a few gifts, and those of little value. ”

“ He was not so busy now, and he could listen to the troubles of his little fir-tree.
“Ho! ho!” he said; “so you want fruit and flowers, do you? Well, I rather guess we can fix that! Hereafter you shall bear wonderful fruit and flowers and nuts every winter, when the other trees are impatiently waiting for spring. And the blossoms and fruits you show shall far, far excel anything they have ever flaunted in your face!”
The little fir-tree could scarcely believe this good news. But it was true.
The Tree-master ordered that she should be the Christmas Tree! ”

“ The cedars said they never had seen the like. The sun seemed to lavish its choicest rays upon the little tree, heaven dropped its sweetest dew upon it, and the winds never came to the forest that they did not forget their rude manners and linger to kiss the little tree and sing it their prettiest songs. No danger ever menaced it, no harm threatened; for the angel never slept,—through the day and through the night the angel watched the little tree and protected it from all evil. Oftentimes the trees talked with the angel ”

“ Torn from their bleak hill-sides, and abstracted from the monotonous long-drawn files of the nursery gardens, how they must be astonished to find themselves suddenly placed in the midst of a mob of bright-eyed children, laden to the very tips of their branches with sweets and packets, and burdened with the light of a hundred twinkling tapers.
But we elder ones also have our Christmas Tree on a larger scale. The great city decorates and lights up and holds out its million hands with presents suitable for the season. ”

“ In all these customs, which are no doubt survivals of the belief in a tree-inhabiting deity, we see the collateral relations, if not the direct progenitors of our Christmas-tree. In short, modern as it is in its present form, the Christmas-tree epitomises many most ancient ideas; is the point to which many streams converge whose source is hidden in a far distant antiquity. It is the meeting-point of the old pagan belief in the virtues vested in the tree and of the quaint fancies of the Middle Ages, which loved to see spiritual truths embodied in material forms. ”

“ Think of this tree, hung all over with little wax candles, bunches of pale-green and purple grapes, teinty red apples, golden horns and baskets chuck full of sugar things. Stuffed humming-birds, looking chipper as life. Butterflies, that seem to be flying through the green of the trees, and a whole camp-meeting of dolls sitting around the roots, and then tell me if the Christmas time of a New York child isn't like living among the people of a fairy book.
This was the sort of tree set up at Cousin Dempster's, Sunday night before this last Christmas day. ”

“ Note F. The Gospel Songs.
The Tree of Life is the real Christmas Tree. Its underwoven roots support the cradle; its branches, overarching with many a blossom and many a cluster, form the canopy of the Heavenly Babe, the Darling of God and of man. ”

“ O Fir-tree green! O Fir-tree green!
I still shall love you dearly.
THE MAHOGANY-TREE
WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY
Christmas is here;
Winds whistle shrill,
Icy and chill,
Little care we;
Little we fear
Weather without,
Sheltered about
The Mahogany-Tree.
Once on the boughs
Birds of rare plume
Sang in its bloom;
Night-birds are we;
Here we carouse,
Singing, like them,
Perched round the stem
Of the jolly old tree.
Here let us sport,
Boys, as we sit—
Laughter and wit
Flashing so free.
Life is but short—
When we are gone,
Let them sing on,
Round the old tree. ”

“ The Christmas gifts were all ready and safe. An air of mystery and expectation was about all the young people; and a good bustle of preparation occupied the thoughts and the tongues at least of the old. An immense Christmas tree was brought in and planted in a huge green tub in the drawing-room. ”

“ Not all firs can be Christmas trees.}
So they cut him down and carried him away on a great sled; away from the tall dark trees, from the white shining snow-carpet at their feet, and from all the murmuring and whispering that go on within the forest.
The little trees stood on tiptoe and waved their green branches for “Good-by,” and the great trees bent their heads to watch him go.
“Not all firs can be Christmas trees,” said they; “only those who grow their best.”
The good Fir-tree stood in the children's own room. Round about his feet were flowers and mosses and green boughs. ”

“ Why, look here"—Earl straightened himself and stretched out an arm like an orator—"it's nothing more than reasonable that Christmas-trees grow wild with the presents all on 'em! What sense would there be in 'em if they didn't, I'd like to know? They grow in different places, of course; but these around here grow mostly on the mountain over there. They come up every spring, and they all blossom out about Christmas-time, and folks go hunting for them to give to the children. ”

“ THE CHRISTMAS TREE.
In recent times the Christmas tree has been introduced from the continent, and is productive of much amusement to old and young, and much taste can be displayed and expense also incurred in preparing its glittering and attractive fruit. It is delightful to watch the animated expectation and enjoyment of the children as the treasures are displayed and distributed; the parents equally participating in the pleasure, and enjoying the sports of their childhood over again. ”

“ You have not only kindled bright tapers upon my Christmas-tree, but the tree itself burns, gives light, and warms: the bush burns, and is not consumed, which is an image of the presence of the Holy Spirit, and its admonition to trust in the Most High in this wilderness of life, in mourning and in woe. ”

“ Have a Christmas tree for a centre-piece (Fig. 561) , a very modest yet charming little affair—only a wee tree fashioned from a branch of boxwood, beautified with homemade toys and decorations cut from gilt and bright-colored papers. Use a large-sized button-mould for the tree stand; push the end of the stem into the hole in the centre of the mould, and the tree will stand alone. Should you have no boxwood, take any green twig and turn it into a miniature Christmas tree by trimming off the 266ends of the branches until the little tree somewhat resembles a cone in shape. ”

“ Dog, and the surprise would take the form of a Christmas tree. There were plenty [Pg 308] of dear little firs growing about near by, each one holding up its tiny branches as if begging for the honor of being chosen, and Mr. Bear knew Mr. Dog, who was something of a carpenter, was just dying to have a complete tool-chest, and he thought what a fine present that would be and how beautifully the awl and saws and other tools would glitter, hung from the branches in the light of the Christmas candles. ”