[Skip Navigation]

Poetry Archives

A continuing selection of classic and contemporary poems.

Old Christmas

Mary Howitt

Now he who knows old Christmas,
  He knows a carle of worth;
For he is as good a fellow
  As any upon earth.

He comes warm cloaked and coated,
  And buttoned up to the chin;
And soon as he comes a-nigh the door
  We open and let him in.

And with sprigs of holly and ivy
  We make the house look gay,
Just out of an old regard for him,
  For it was his ancient way.

He must be a rich old fellow,
  What money he gives away!
There is not a lord in England
  Could equal him any day.

Good luck unto old Christmas,
  And long life, let us sing,
For he doth more good unto the poor
  Than many a crowned king.
Online text © 1998-2008 Poetry X. All rights reserved.
From Required Poems for Reading and Memorizing: Third and Fourth Grades, Prescribed by State Courses of Study | 1920
Add Keyword Tags

Separate each tag with a space. You may add as many tags as you'd like to each poem.

What are tags?
Tags, sometimes called “folksonomies,” are words that describe or categorize a poem, like “20th century modernism” or “Italian sonnet”. Tags can help you find poems that have something in common, based on how other people classify them.

More Info

This site will work and look better in a browser that supports web standards, but it is accessible to any Internet device.