



Produced by Annie McGuire








[Illustration: HARPER'S

YOUNG PEOPLE

AN ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY.]


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VOL. I.--NO. 9. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. PRICE FOUR
CENTS.

Tuesday, December 30, 1879. Copyright, 1879, by HARPER & BROTHERS. $1.50
per Year, in Advance.

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A COASTING SONG.

[Illustration: COASTING NEW-YEAR'S EVE.

Drawn by C. GRAHAM.]


  From the quaint old farm-house, nestling warmly
  'Neath its overhanging thatch of snow,
  Out into the moonlight troop the children,
  Filling all the air with music as they go,
  Gliding, sliding,
  Down the hill,
  Never minding
  Cold nor chill,
  O'er the silvered
  Moon-lit snow,
  Swift as arrow
  From the bow,
  With a rush
  Of mad delight
  Through the crisp air
  Of the night,
  Speeding far out
  O'er the plain,
  Trudging gayly
  Up again
  To where the firelight's
  Ruddy glow
  Turns to gold
  The silver snow.
  Finer sport who can conceive
  Than that of coasting New-Year's Eve?
  Half the fun lies in the fire
  That seems to brighter blaze and higher
  Than any other of the year,
  As though his dying hour to cheer,
  And at the same time greeting give
  To him who has a year to live.
  'Tis built of logs of oak and pine,
  Filled in with branches broken