Fragment from a poem of Thomas Carlyle

…[cut off] not only Christmas, but all the year through.  This is how Carlyle[1] thought about it:

So here hath been dawning another blue day;

Think wilt though let it slip useless away.

Out of Eternity this new day is born;

Into Eternity at night shall return.

Behold it aforetime no eye ever did;

So soon it forever from all eyes is hid.

Here hath been dawning another blue day;

Think wilt thou let it slip useless away.

-       The Spectator

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[1] Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) was a Scottish essayist, satirist, and historian, whose work was highly influential during the Victorian era. Coming from a strict Calvinist family, Carlyle was expected by his parents to become a preacher, but while at the University of Edinburgh, he lost his Christian faith. Calvinist values, however, remained with him throughout his life. This combination of a religious temperament with loss of faith in traditional Christianity made Carlyle’s work appealing to many Victorians who were grappling with scientific and political changes that threatened the traditional social order.