3-047-133 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Toast of the Evening, drawn by A. Hunt, 1872. Christmas party; illustration to a poem by Mason Jackson. 'Upon the threshold of the past We linger o'er its joys and woes; And when the year is waning fast We love to watch it as it goes. With some the time has sped away With care and sadness overcast, But many a sorrow-laden day Has ripened into joy at last...But let us bless the dying year, And all the years that we have seen: The future is not dark with fear, Whate'er the past to us has been. And let us drink a modest cup With loving friends whom time has tried. Come, fill the glasses! fill them up! And bless this happy Christmas-tide...But there is yet a dearer toast, And one that comes much nearer home; We drink our hostess and our host!...They reap the harvest they have sown, And look to life's eternal goal; While all the pleasures they have known Return, like echoes, to the soul...The mem'ry of a well-spent life Is theirs to cheer declining days; And father, mother, husband, wife, Applied to them, are words of praise. Come, fill the glasses! fill them up! With trusty friends whom time has tried We 'll drink a last and loving cup, And bless the happy Christmas-tide'. From "Illustrated London News", 1872.