9579. Be Merry All

1 Be merry all, be merry all,
With holly dress the festive hall,
Prepare the song, the feast, the ball,
To welcome merry Christmas.

2 And oh! remember gentles gay,
For you who bask in fortune’s ray,
The year is all a holiday,
The poor have only Christmas.

3 When you, with velvets mantled o’er,
Defy December’s tempests frore,
O spare one garment from your store
To clothe the poor at Christmas.

4 From blazing loads of fuel, while
Your homes with indoor summer smile,
Oh! spare one faggot from your pile
To warm the poor at Christmas.

5 When you the costly banquet deal
To guests who never famine feel,
Oh! spare one morsel from your meal
To feed the poor at Christmas,

6 When generous wine your care controls,
And gives new joy to happiest souls,
Oh! spare one goblet from your bowls
To cheer the poor at Christmas.

7 So shall each note of mirth appear
More sweet to Heav’n than praise or prayer,
And angels in their carols there
Shall bless the rich at Christmas.

Text Information
First Line: Be merry all, be merry all
Title: Be Merry All
Author: William R. Spencer
Meter: 88.87
Language: English
Source: Poems (London: T. Cadell & W. Davies, 1811)
Copyright: Public Domain
Tune Information
Name: GREENWELL
Composer: William James Kirkpatrick (1885)
Meter: 88.87
Key: E Major
Source: Songs of Joy and Gladness (Boston: McDonald & Gill, 1885)
Copyright: Public Domain



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