A Christmas Vigil by Frank French 1888, 4x6 reprint Harper's Young People


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Digital Reprint

Christmas Eve engraving with poem (see below.)

Restoration of an engraving found in Harper's Young People magazine, Volume X, 1888. The engraving is called "A Christmas Vigil" and was created and engraved by Frank French in that year. In the magazine, the engraving was accompanied by a short poem of the same name by Dora Read Goodale.

The Christmas Vigil
by: Dora Read Goodale

On Christmas Eve what mirth and love returning,
  In Grateful chorus, praise the golden year!
With many a gift and rosy taper burning,
  With frost and flame the happy Feast draws near,
And reindeer prance, if truth be told in fable,
And hawthorns blush, and cattle kneel in stable.

Light trip the hours of laughing hour of laughing jest and folly
  As sport and mask their ancient honors share;
The post are wreathed, the curtains laced with holly,
  And every singer pipes his merriest air.
Now the fires fade, the stars new brightness borrow:
Good-night, sweet guests, and slumber speed the morrow!

Pale shine the stars, while all the house is sleeping,
  Faint gleams and shadows mingling on the wall,
Where the great clock, its lonely vigil keeping,
  With solemn finger marks the round for all;
Now sigh is heard, nor sound of night wind blowing,
Nor squeaking mouse, nor cock untimely crowing.

Hark! in the dark a childish foot is stealing,
  And dropping eyelids wear the watch away,
Till from the town the far-off belfries pealing
  With rhythmic tongue proclaim the welcome day --
The joyful day that brought the wondrous Stranger,
When Christ was born and cradled in a manger.

Sleep now, sweet maid, and happy dreams shall hover,
  As hope and young in starry visions run,
Though half the elves that wakeful eyes discover
  Fade at a breath or vanish with the sun.
The air grows chill, the morn will soon be breaking:
Go to -- go sleep, and Heaven bless thy waking!

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Not AI Generated

Unless otherwise noted, this image is not AI generated. My Digital Reprints are restored and enlarged (where necessary) by hand, using the latest version of Adobe Photoshop. 


Note that because of the enlargement from my scanner, the image shown here is slightly more blurry that the print you will receive.