Irving, Washington / 2008-06-03 00:00:00

1819-20
THE SKETCH BOOK
CHRISTMAS
by Washington Irving
CHRISTMAS
But is old, old, good old Christmas gone? Nothing but the hair of
his good, gray, old head and beard left? Well, I will have that,
seeing I cannot have more of him.
HUE AND CRY AFTER CHRISTMAS.
A man might then behold
At Christmas, in each hall
Good fires to curb the cold,
And meat for great and small.
The neighbors were friendly bidden,
And all had welcome true,
The poor from the gates were not chidden
When this old cap was new.
OLD SONG.
NOTHING in England exercises a more delightful spell over my
imagination, than the lingerings of the holiday customs and rural
games of former times. They recall the pictures my fancy used to
draw in the May morning of life, when as yet I only knew the world
through books, and believed it to be all that poets had painted it;
and they bring with them the flavor of those honest days of yore, in
which, perhaps, with equal fallacy, I am apt to think the world was
more homebred, social, and joyous than at present.
Read more


Parts: 1