Sentiments of the season, y'all

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Christmas comes but Once a Year

God grant ye joy this Christmas day,
May every heart be jolly;
Love kiss ye now beneath the bough
Of mistletoe and holly.
The long, hard year of toil is done;
Today the bells are ringing,
Put down your burdens everyone,
And share the carol singing.

For Christmas comes but once a year,
When harvesting is ended;
With merry din the day comes in,
By love and mirth attended;
The children dance and shout with glee,
The eyes of all are beaming;
And high above the Christmas tree,
The star of Hope is gleaming.

- Edgar A. Guest

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Heigh Ho, The Holly

Blow, blow, thou winter wind,
Thou art not so unkind
As man's ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen,
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.
Heigh ho, sing heigh ho, unto the green holly;
most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then, heigh ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.

Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,
That dost not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot:
Though thou the waters warp,
Thy sting is not so sharp
As friend remember'd not.
Heigh ho, sing heigh ho, unto the green holly:
most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then, heigh ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.

- William Shakespeare

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Bounce buckram, velvets dear,
Christmas comes but once a year,
When it comes it brings good cheer,
And when it's gone it's never near.

- English traditional Christmas poem

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I sometimes think we expect too much of Christmas Day. We try to crowd into it the long arrears of kindliness and humanity of the whole year. As for me, I like to take my Christmas a little at a time, all through the year. And thus I drift along into the holidays - let them overtake me unexpectedly - waking up some fine morning and suddenly saying to myself: "Why, this is Christmas Day!"

- David Grayson

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Merry freakin' Christmas from the entire staff at
The Ephemeral Frontier

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