Christmas Eve. (1864.[103])
Reading edition
Christmas Eve. (1864.[103])
Fill the punch-bowl to the brim, Merry be—’tis Christmas-time, In it let sliced lemons swim, ’Til the midnight bell doth chime. Eye the holly, fresh and green, Intertwined with mistletoe; Cast the ashen faggot[104] in, Fan it till it crack and glow. Pass the rosy goblet round; Bathe thy lips in liquors choice; Pour thy pleasure out in sound; Make an effort with thy voice: Thus enhance the jubilee— Let fair damsels lead the songs, Follow them, in harmony; For with music love belongs. Haste ye, and repeat the glee, Solo-song, or madrigal:— Quoth the host—“It pleases me, Bravo!—thou hast sung it well.” Hark! the church-clock, striking twelve, Tingles through the merry hall; Put the tankard on the shelf— Rich or poor,—and stop the ball.[105] Now, with solemn gratitude, Thank Him, who provides us cheer; And with equal promptitude Reverence the fast fleeting year. Spend the Sabbath, (’tis the last That will count in ’sixty-four,)— With a right becoming fast, ’Til the Monday sun shall soar. Then with seemly merriment, ’Neath the mistletoe be gay; And with chasty sentiment Join the choral roundelay. Dance together, young and old, To the sound of violin: Who will venture—who so bold— To assert it is a sin?— Thus, for youths, in measured pace, To trip o’er the planken floor; Parents, with their wonted grace, Skipping as in days of yore? No! this never can be sin,— So dance on—enjoy the hour; And when done—go, think of Him, Who, alone, can blessings show’r.
THE DEATH, BURIAL, AND DESTRUCTION OF BACCHUS; OR, THE FRUITS OF LASCIVIOUSNESS.
AN ALLEGORICAL POEM.
IN TWO CANTOS.
By E. E. FOOT.
Prologue.—It may be considered presumptuous of the Author that he should have dared to venture in the paths of Allegory; but since he has been guilty of doing so, he must bear whatever chastisement may be inflicted upon him. The Poem is intended, in the first instance, to illustrate in a figurative manner the frailty of the human mind—or rather, the natural propensity of the human heart—in the pursuit of pleasure; which, if not mercifully prevented by the interposition of Divine Providence, tends to create an insatiate desire for new and unattainable delights; fosters an intemperate habit; promotes an incessant craving after carnal joys; and which inevitably involves a person in the whirlpool of vice, and ultimately leads to the destruction of the Soul. In the second instance, to depict (according to the Author’s humble ideas) the manner of mystic glorification—instituted by the Sovereign of the Outer World—continually going on in the dominions of his Satanic Majesty; but which, to the unredeemed souls of departed creatures, is the sad state of everlasting torment, consequent to perdition. And thirdly, the Author hopes this representation[106] of the unblissful regions may have the effect of retarding, at least—in some degree, the appetite for the pleasures, or he would say: vanities of this life; and of eventually averting the evil and direful calamity, by—“Turning the hearts of the disobedient unto the wisdom of the just.”