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Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Merry Christmas!

Good Christmas to all my blog friends! Today I'm sharing some poems of the season, from older times and older ways. Enjoy!


Some say that ever 'gainst that season comesWherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated,The bird of dawning singeth all night long;And then, they say, no spirit dares stir abroad;The nights are wholesome, then no planets strike,No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,So hallowed and so gracious is the time.
Shakespeare.


CEREMONIES FOR CHRISTMAS.

Come, bring with a noise,My merry, merry boys,The Christmas-log to the firing,While my good dame, sheBids ye all be free,And drink to your heart's desiring.
With the last year's brandLight the new block, and,For good success in his spending,On your psalteries play,That sweet luck mayCome while the log is a-tending.
Drink now the strong beer,Cut the white loaf here,The while the meat is a-shredding;For the rare mince-pieAnd the plums stand by,To fill the paste that's a-kneading.
Robert Herrick.


It Brings Good Cheer.

"You may talk of Country Christmasses,
Their thirty pound butter'd eggs, their pies of carps' tongues;
Their pheasants drench'd with ambergris; the carcasses of three
fat wethers bruised for gravy to make sauce for a single peacock!"
Massinger.

THRICE WELCOME!

Now thrice welcome, Christmas,Which brings us good cheer,Minced-pies and plum porridge,Good ale and strong beer;With pig, goose, and capon,The best that may be,So well doth the weatherAnd our stomachs agree.

AN OLD ENGLISH CHRISTMAS-TIDE.

Thrice holy ring, afar and wide,The merry bells this Christmas-tide;Afar and wide, through hushed snow,From ivied minster-portico,Sweet anthems swell to tell the taleOf that young babe the shepherds hailSitting amid their nibbling flocksWhat time the Hallelujah shocksThe drowsy earth, and CherubimBreak through the heaven with harp and hymn.

****************************Kindle the Christmas brand, and thenTill sunset let it burn,Which quenched, then lay it up againTill Christmas next return.
Part must be kept, wherewith to teendThe Christmas log next year,And where 'tis safely kept, the fiendCan do no mischief there.
Robert Herrick.

GOOD-NIGHT.

Good-night, good-night, the day is done;Rock, rock the cradle, little one;The lamp is low, and low the sun,Good-night!
Good-night, good-night, the Christmas boughBends to the rocking wind, and thouTo mother's ditty noddest now,Good-night!
Good-night, good-night, the holy dayBring baby sweets, and sweets alway!Rock, rock—then, tiptoe, steal away,Good-night!
H. S. M.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

1 comment:

  1. Merry Christmas Sue. Lovely vintage poems. Have a wonderful day.
    Joy

    ReplyDelete

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