Rosemary and Pansies/Christmas Day, 1897
For works with similar titles, see Christmas Day.
CHRISTMAS DAY, 1897
A filthy fog, foul-smelling, pungent, cold,
Clammy and greasy, eye-offending, thick;
A misery that must multiply tenfold
The sufferings of the homeless poor, the sick,
And all who in life's battle buffeted
Most need the ministration of the sun,
His light and heat benevolently shed,
Lest they by cold and hunger be undone:
A day to make the stoutest-hearted sad,
To overcast the merriest face with gloom,
To make alone the undertaker glad,
And an to ponder on the final doom:
Satan! henceforth your fuel spare in hell,
A London fog will serve your tun as well!
Clammy and greasy, eye-offending, thick;
A misery that must multiply tenfold
The sufferings of the homeless poor, the sick,
And all who in life's battle buffeted
Most need the ministration of the sun,
His light and heat benevolently shed,
Lest they by cold and hunger be undone:
A day to make the stoutest-hearted sad,
To overcast the merriest face with gloom,
To make alone the undertaker glad,
And an to ponder on the final doom:
Satan! henceforth your fuel spare in hell,
A London fog will serve your tun as well!