Christmas

Christmas has come, let's eat and drink,     This is no time to sit and think;     Farewell to study, books and pen,     And welcome to all kinds of men.     Let all men now get rid of care,     And what one has let others share;     Then 'tis the same, no matter which     Of us is poor, or which is rich.     Let each man have enough this day,     Since those that can are glad to pay;     There's nothing now too rich or good     For poor men, not the King's own food.     Now like a singing bird my feet     Touch earth, and I must drink and eat.     Welcome to all men: I'll not care     What any of my fellows wear;     We'll not let cloth divide our souls,     They'll swim stark naked in the bowls.     Welcome, poor beggar: I'll not see     That hand of yours dislodge a flea,,     While you sit at my side and beg,     Or right foot scratching your left leg.     Farewell restraint: we will not now     Measure the ale our brains allow,     But drink as much as we can hold.     We'll count no change when we spend gold;     This is no time to save, but spend,     To give for nothing, not to lend.     Let foes make friends: let them forget     The mischief-making dead that fret     The living with complaint like this,     "He wronged us once, hate him and his."     Christmas has come; let every man     Eat, drink, be merry all he can.     Ale's my best mark, but if port wine     Or whisky's yours, let it be mine;     No matter what lies in the bowls,     We'll make it rich with our own souls.     Farewell to study, books and pen,     And welcome to all kinds of men.