FULL of drink and full of meat, On our SAVIOUR'S natal day, CHARITY'S perennial treat; Thus I heard a Pauper say: -- "Ought not I to dance and sing Thus supplied with famous cheer! Heigho! I hardly know -- Christmas comes but once a year. "After labour's long turmoil, Sorry fare and frequent fast, Two-and-fifty weeks of toil, Pudding-time is come at last! But are raisins high or low, Flour and suet cheap or dear? Heigho! I hardly know -- Christmas comes but once a year. "Fed upon the coarsest fare Three hundred days and sixty-four But for @3one@1 on viands rare, Just as if I wasn't poor! Ought not I to bless my stars, Warden, clerk, and overseer? Heigho! I hardly know -- Christmas comes but once a year. "Treated like a welcome guest, One of Nature's social chain, Seated, tended on, and press'd -- But when shall I be press'd again Twice to pudding, thrice to beef, A dozen times to ale and beer? Heigho! I hardly know -- Christmas comes but once a year. "Come to-morrow how it will; Diet scant and usage rough, Hunger once has had its fill, Thirst for once has had enough, But shall I ever dine again? Or see another feast appear? Heigho! I only know -- Christmas comes but once a year! "Frozen cares begin to melt, Hopes revive and spirits flow -- Feeling as I have not felt Since a dozen months ago -- Glad enough so sing a song -- To-morrow shall I volunteer? Heigho! I hardly know -- Christmas comes but once a year. "Bright and blessed is the time, Sorrows end and joys begin, While the bells with merry chime Ring the Day of Plenty in! But the happy tide to hail, With a sigh or with a tear, Heigho! I hardly know -- Christmas comes but once a year!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AELLA: THE MINSTREL'S SONG by THOMAS CHATTERTON THE SAILOR TO HIS PARROT by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES TO SIR HENRY WOTTON (1) by JOHN DONNE TO THE SOUR READER by ROBERT HERRICK SHERMAN'S IN SAVANNAH [DECEMBER 22, 1864] by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES THE ILIAD: ACHILLES OVER THE TRENCH by HOMER |