On Christmas day a fall of snow
Would be a boon to boys I know:
To boys well-fed, well-clad and warm,
And well equipped to face the storm.

To many a merry girl and boy
The snowball game’s a game of joy;
When fancy shoes and furry coats
Shield tiny toes and tender throats.

A fall of snow on Christmas day
For some poor folk is far from play:
For boys and girls who have to tread
The mill of misery for their bread.

The poor who starve in retched slum,
On rich men’s cast-off clothes and crumb:
The poor who like wee robins strive,
Mid snows to keep themselves alive.

On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
Though nice to snowball, feast and play,
We should recall ‘mid all our joy
That Christ was once a poor wee Boy.

On Brigid’s Day, on Brigid’s Day,
Breezes! softly, gently play.
Smile, O Sun! up in the sky,
And bid the frosts of winter fly.

Brigid loved the songs of birds;
Brigid loved the lowing herds,
She loved the flowers and birds and bees;
But Brigid loved much more than these.

The poor she loved; and even more
She loved the children of the poor;
To soothe the sick, to cheer the sad.
But still a higher goal she had.

To save the sinner’s deathless soul –
That was Brigid’s higher goal:
Her who made our land renowned
For holy nuns, and faith profound.

O’er our doors her cross we set,
To show how much we love her yet.
Gaels know by this where’er they roam,
Such home is a St. Brigid’s home.

Grass greener grows through Erin’s isle
More buds appear, more flowers smile
By mossy bank and sunny brae
To greet the dawn of Brigid’s Day.

On Brigid’s morn the mountains throw
Up in the air their caps of snow.
Cead failte swells from plain and vale
To welcome Mary of the Gael.

With blither step the ploughman goes
The milkmaid lilts as white milk flows.
Redbreast broadcasts a special lay
To celebrate St. Brigid’s Day.

The pick of rushes green we twine
In Brigid’s Cross, a saving sigh,
O’er doors and fanlights, Brigid’s Cross
Shall be our shield from sin and loss.

Bright shines a Star, her star that shone
Through Erin’s gloom. It shall shine on
To lead all wandering souls who stray,
Back to the Faith of Brigid’s Day.