Page:The Bab Ballads.djvu/158

 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.