Out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden.
Genesis 2:9
Words: Mary N. Meigs, in the Hymn, Tune, and Service Book for Sunday Schools (Boston, Massachusetts: American Unitarian Association, 1869), number 204.
Music: Frederick Schilling (🔊 pdf nwc).
If you know where to get a good photo of Meigs or Schilling (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
There’s a wonderful tree,
A wonderful tree,
The happy children rejoice to see;
It is spreading its branches
Year by year,
It comes from the forest
To flourish here.
Oh, this beautiful tree,
With its branches wide,
Is always, is always blooming
At Christmas tide.
It is not alone
In the summer’s sheen,
Its boughs are broad
And its leaves are green;
It is blooming for us
As the wild winds blow,
And earth is all white
With the feathery snow;
And this wonderful tree,
With its branches wide,
Bears many, bears many a gift
For the Christmas tide.
It is all alone
With its tapers’ glow,
That flash on shining eyes below,
And the strange, sweet fruit
On each laden bough,
Is all to be plucked
By the gatherers now.
Oh! this wonderful tree,
With its branches wide,
We hail it, we hail it, with joy
At the Christmastide.
And a voice is telling
Its boughs among,
Of shepherds watching
And angels’ song;
Of a holy Babe
In a manger low,
The beautiful story of long ago.
When a radiant star
Threw its beams so wide,
To herald, to herald
The earliest Christmastide.
So then spread thy branches,
O wonderful tree,
And bring some dainty gift to me;
May you fill my heart
With burning love,
To Him who didst come
From His home above;
From His beautiful home
With the glorified,
To give us, to give us
The joy of Christmastide.