I SAID last year,
Old Christmas cometh with an open hand,
Bright holly wreath'd about his temples bland,
Icicles twisted in his curling hair
And hanging from his breast in crystals rare:
All men rejoice when Christmas draweth near.

All men rejoice! No, no, this royal guest--
This jolly fellow--hath a double face;
Ice-cold and hard as iron is his brow
When, wrapp'd in pitiless storms and vest of snow,
He hovers o'er the household of the poor
And strikes with clenched fist the fragile door.
When far away the wandering sun hath borne
His molten beams to drop on Capricorn,
There is no faggot to supply his place.

Low lie the embers in the darkening room,
The baby's feeble hands are pinch'd with cold,
The old man, sightless in the gathering gloom,
Hath sunk into a past of memories old.
Over their heads the bleak December howls
And sleety winds about the chimneys beat,
While miserable rafters scarce prevent
The oozy drops from pattering to their feet.

Wet, cold, and dark. 'How long will Christmas last?'
Say little children who should love it well.
They cannot sleep at night when that great blast
Moans in its fury like a funeral bell
Through such thin walls. Old Christmas passes by,
His arms fill'd up with a luxurious store;
But, ah! of cake, and toy, and dance, and fire,
Hath nothing for the children of the poor.

Poor tiny outcasts of the rich heir's feast,
They stand with wistful eyes and hear the song
Of how, when Jesus was a little child,
His mother tended him the whole night long.
In the dim street the carol chanteth how
The three wise kings brought presents rich and rare,
While giftless they, within their untrimm'd walls,
Watch the snow falling through the twilight air,
And count the hours till bed--time--then lie down
With shivering limbs, in broken sleep, till day;
And how shall these believe that in the night
The kind Child Jesus can have pass'd that way?

For shame, old Christmas! when you visit here
And bring our little children feast and toy,
Tell them they shall not have one bit this year
Till they have fed a child who cannot buy.
'Good Christians all who in this town reside,'
For whom the season since your birth has smil'd,
Besides the tracts and blankets, beef and bread,
Give something to the Christmas of the Child.