HEAR the sledges with the bells —
                     Silver bells !
What a world of merriment their melody foretells !
           How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
                 In the icy air of night !
           While the stars that oversprinkle
           All the heavens, seem to twinkle
                 With a crystalline delight ;
              Keeping time, time, time,
              In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells
      From the bells, bells, bells, bells,
                     Bells, bells, bells —
   From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.