I Salute You:
There is nothing I can give you which you have not.
But there is much, while I cannot give, you can take.
No Heaven can come to us, unless our Hearts find rest in it Today:
Take Heaven.
No Peace lies in the Future, which is not hidden in this Present instant:
Take Peace.
The gloom of the World is but a Shadow,
Behind it, yet within our reach, is Joy:
Take Joy.
And so, at this Christmas Time, I greet you with the Prayer
That for you, Now and Forever, the Day breaks, and the Shadows flee away.
from Fra Giovanni's, Salutation to a Friend - 1513
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Mar. Some saye, that ever 'gainst that Season comes
Wherein our Saviors Birth is celebrated,
The Bird of Dawning singeth all night long:
And then (they say) no Spirit can walke abroad,
The nights are wholesome, then no Planets strike,
No Faiery takes, nor Witch hath power to Charme:
So hallow'd and so gracious is the Time.
Hor. So have I heard, and do in part beleeve it.
The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke 1.1.158-65
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