Surely your gladness need not be the less for the thought that you will one day see a brighter dawn than this – when lovelier sights will meet your eyes than any waving trees or rippling waters – when angel-hands shall undraw your curtains, and sweeter tones than ever loving Mother breathed shall wake you to a new and glorious day – and when all the sadness, and the sin, that darkened life on this little earth, shall be forgotten like the dreams of a night that is past!
Your affectionate friend,
LEWIS CARROLL
Easter, 1876
CHRISTMAS GREETINGS
FROM A FAIRY TO A CHILD
Lady dear, if Fairies may
For a moment lay aside
‘Tis at happy Christmas-tide.
We have heard the children say –
Gentle children, whom we love –
Long ago, on Christmas Day,
Came a message from above.
Still, as Christmas-tide comes round,
They remember it again –
‘Peace on earth, good-will to men.’
Yet the hearts must child-like be
Where such heavenly guests abide.
Unto children, in their glee,
All the year is Christmas-tide.
Thus, forgetting tricks and play
For a moment, Lady dear,
Merry Christmas, glad New Year.
Christmas, 1867