Thanks, Bill, for this Solstice verse...I have shared it with family and friends...much appreciated! All the best for the holidays and 2013! Thanks for all you do for us Beara folks. /Susan Twomey > On Dec 21, 2012, at 11:06 AM, Bill Gawne <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Dear friends of Beara, >> >> On this (northern hemisphere) winter solstice day I offer you this >> sweet verse by Susan Cooper: >> >> And so the Shortest Day came and the year died >> And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world >> Came people singing, dancing, >> To drive the dark away. >> They lighted candles in the winter trees; >> They hung their homes with evergreen; >> They burned beseeching fires all night long >> To keep the year alive. >> And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake >> They shouted, revelling. >> Through all the frosty ages you can hear them >> Echoing behind us - listen! >> All the long echoes, sing the same delight, >> This Shortest Day, >> As promise wakens in the sleeping land: >> They carol, feast, give thanks, >> And dearly love their friends, >> And hope for peace. >> And now so do we, here, now, >> This year and every year. >> >> >> -- Bill >>