Winter Vigil

In the frost and ice
Of a cold, cold night,
There's a horseman rides
In the pale moonlight,
And he's journeyed long
And has far to go,
And he's travelling now
Through the wind and snow.

In a small, snug room
By a fireside bright
There's a rocking chair
And by candlelight
Sits a boy named Tom
And he's listening hard
For the sound of hooves
In the cobbled yard.

And he hears the wind,
And he hears the snow,
As it congregates
On the room window,
But the sound that he
So longs to hear,
Will it ever, ever
Reach his ear?

In the frost and ice
Of a cold, cold nigt,
There's a horseman rides
In the pale moonlight,
And the rocking chair
Slowly creak, creak, creaks,
As it has done now
For weeks and weeks.