"The Olden Song" by Benjamin F. Leggett (1891)

        An esteemed contributor, whose name will at once be recognized by Troy Times readers as that of a graceful and able writer, furnishes the following unique little Christmas poem. As will be seen, it is in the style of an acrostic, with the exception that instead of the first letters of the lines forming a word, the first words of the lines form a sentence, and the sentence is especially apropos to this season:

                        THE OLDEN SONG.

GLORY to God in the highest, the song that the angels told,

TO earth from the starry spaces and on through the ages rolled;

GOD over the Earth and Heaven, King over the kings of time,

IN the sweep of eternal ages holding His reign sublime;

THE strains of mellowest music extol him at lowly birth,

HIGHEST and holiest anthem ringing from heaven to earth;

AND over the starlit spaces in the far Judean land,

ON the ordered slopes of Lebanon—on Hermon white and grand

EARTH caught at last the exulting song and through the midnight smiled,

PEACE folded there her wins above the manger's wondrous child:

"GOOD-will"—the song the angels sung, with peace for the sweet refrain—

WILL lift the world on its tidal swell and gladden with its strain;

TOWARD the darkened earth it drifted down and woke a golden morn—

MEN gave their gifts of gold and myrrh—the Hope of the World was born!

                                                                BENJ. F. LEGGETT.

Troy Daily Times. December 24, 1891: 2 col 3.

Benjamin Franklin Leggett (1834-1924) http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=35039886 was a prolific author. In addition to his Troy newspaper contributions he had several collections of poetry including An Idyl of Lake George and Other Poems (1895).