Christmas is here: <br />Winds whistle shrill, <br />Icy and chill, <br />Little care we: <br />Little we fear <br />Weather without, <br />Shelter about <br />The Mahogany Tree. <br /> <br />Once on the boughs <br />Birds of rare plume <br />Sang, in its bloom; <br />Night-birds are we: <br />Here we carouse, <br />Singing like them, <br />Perched round the stem <br />Of the jolly old tree. <br /> <br />Here let us sport, <br />Boys, as we sit; <br />Laughter and wit <br />Flashing so free. <br />Life is but short -- <br />When we are gone, <br />Let them sing on <br />Round the old tree. <br /> <br />Evenings we knew, <br />Happy as this; <br />Faces we miss, <br />Pleasant to see. <br />Kind hearts and true, <br />Gentle and just, <br />Peace to your dust! <br />We sing round the tree. <br /> <br />Care, like a dun, <br />Lurks at the gate: <br />Let the dog wait; <br />Happy we'll be! <br />Drink, every one; <br />Pile up the coals, <br />Fill the red bowls, <br />Round the old tree! <br /> <br />Drain we the cup. -- <br />Friend, art afraid? <br />Spirits are laid <br />In the Red Sea. <br />Mantle it up; <br />Empty it yet; <br />Let us forget, <br />Round the old tree. <br /> <br />Sorrows, begone! <br />Life and its ills, <br />Duns and their bills, <br />Bid we to flee. <br />Come with the dawn, <br />Blue-devil sprite, <br />Leave us to-night, <br />Round the old tree.<br /><br />William Makepeace Thackeray<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-mahogany-tree/
