December ('Neath Mistletoe) / J. Ashby-Sterry

December ('Neath Mistletoe)

'Neath Mistletoe, should chance arise,
You may be happy if you're wise!
     Though bored you be with Pantomime
     And Christmas fare and Christmas rhyme —
One fine old custom don't despise.

If you're a man of enterprise
You'll find, I venture to surmise,
     'Tis pleasant then at Christmas-time
           'Neath Mistletoe!

You see they scarcely can disguise
The sparkle of their pretty eyes:
     And no one thinks it is a crime,
     When goes the merry Christmas chime,
A rare old rite to exercise
          'Neath Mistletoe!

~~

J. Ashby-Sterry (1836-1917)

from The Lazy Minstrel, 1886

[Poem is in the public domain worldwide]

J. Ashby-Sterry biography