They only see in the humbug old
A holiday every year,
And handsome gifts and joys untold
And unaccustomed cheer.

The old ones palsied, blear, and hoar,
Their breasts in anguish beat—
They've seen him seventy times before,
How well they know the cheat!

They've seen that ghastly Pantomime,
They've felt it's blighting breath,
They know that rollicking Christmas time,
Meant Cold and Want and Death.

Starvation—Poor Law Union fare—
And deadly cramps and chills,
And illness—illness everywhere,
And crime and Christmas bills.

They know old Christmas well, I ween,
Those men of ripened age,
They've often, often, often seen
That Actor off the stage.