Page 54 - Poetry-Country

When Santa Claus had left that night, and found out his mistake,
He laughed, he laughed, he laughed so hard, you’d thought his heart
would break;
He laughed, he shook, he shook, he laughed—more stockings were to
fill—
He laughed so hard, he shook so hard, it almost made him ill.

On Christmas day, at dinner-time, old Santa sought the city,
And change the things from house to house, laughed, danced, and
sang a ditty.
And when, the Christmas dinner o’er, the old man sought his room,
The phantom change perplexed his mind with joy and awe and gloom.

And when, the Christmas dinner o’er, the lassie sought her room,
No pack of fire-crackers e’er created such a boom.
She laughed, she cried, and flew about, jumped high upon a stool,
And said, “It is not Christmas day; it must be April-fool.”

Now, when the old man thinks of it, his thoughts are very hazy;
He hardly knows just what to think, while sure he was not crazy.
And when the lassie thinks of it, her thoughts are very mazy;
She hardly knows just what to say—the pretty little daisy.

—Gouvemeur M. Smith (Harper’s Monthly, 1889)

Reciprocity
The Christmas Morning Soliloquy of a Commission Servant-Girl

When the lush blush-rose smiled upon the tree,
And the earth blossomed ‘neath the young May moon,
Into the barrel, with an air care-free
I cast the chicken, dish and knife and spoon;

~ 52 ~