The Christmas Box
Words: Romaine Joseph Thorn
London: T. N. Longman, 1795
Source: Henry Vizetelly, Christmas With The Poets (London: David Bogue, 1851).
Gladly the boy, with Christmas Box in hand.
Throughut the town his devious route pursues:
And, of his master's customers, implores
The yearly mite: often his cash he shakes:
The which, perchance, of coppers few consists.
Whose dulcet jingle fills his little soul
With joy, as boundless as the debtor feels,
When, from the bailiff's rude, uncivil gripe,
His friends redeem him, and, with pity fraught,
The claims of all his creditors discharge.
Note from Vizetelly:
The annexed descriptions of the various features of the Christmas season are extracted from a poem of considerable length, entitled "Christmas," written by Romaine Joseph Thorn, and published towards the close of the eighteenth century. We have been unable to meet with a copy of this poem; our extracts have therefore been made from Brand's "Popular Antiquities," vol. i., and comprise, of course, only such passages as have been selected for that work.
Editor's Note:
An electronic copy is available at the University of Arizona Library, but subject to licensing agreements and therefore not publicly available. No copies appeared in WorldCat as of September 28, 2006.
The six poem segments reproduced by Vizetelly are:
Excerpts from "Christmas," Romaine Joseph Thorne
Evergreen-Decking At Christmas
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