Out of the mists of childhood,
  Steeped in a golden glory,
  Come dreamy forms and faces,
  Snatches of song and story;
  Whispers of sweet, still faces;
  Rays of ethereal glimmer,
  That gleam like sunny heavens,
  Ne'er to grow colder or dimmer:
Now far in the distance, now shining near,
Lighting the snows of the shivering year.

  Faces there are that tremble,
  Bleared with a silent weeping,
  Weird in a shadowy sorrow,
  As if endless vigil keeping.
  Faces of dazzling brightness,
  With childlike radiance lighted,
  Flashing with many a beauty,
  Nor care nor time had blighted.
But o'er them all there 's a glamour thrown,
Bright with the dreamy distance alone.

  Aglow in the Christmas halo,
  Shining with heavenly lustre,
  These are the fairy faces
  That round the hearthstone cluster.