94
CHRISTMAS
done; and Bob served it out with beaming
looks, while the chestnuts on the fire sputtered and cracked noisily. Then Bob proposed:
"A merry Christmas to us all, my dears.
God bless us!"
Which all the family re-echoed.
"God bless us every one!" said Tiny Tim, the last of all.
GOD BLESS US EVERY ONE[1]
"God bless us every one!" prayed Tiny Tim,
Crippled, and dwarfed of body, yet so tall
Of soul, we tiptoe earth to look on him,
High towering over all.
He loved the loveless world, nor dreamed, indeed.
That it, at best, could give to him, the while,
But pitying glances, when his only need
Was but a cheery smile.
And thus he prayed, "God bless us every one!"
Enfolding all the creeds within the span
Of his child-heart; and so, despising none.
Was nearer saint than man.
- ↑ From " Sketches in Prose." Copyright 1900, by Bobbs-Merrill Company. Reproduced by special permission.