An Elizabethan Christmas

At Christmas I no more desire a rose,
Than wish a snow in May's new-fangled shows;
But like of each thing that in season grows.

—William Shakespeare

Heap on the wood!
The wind is chill;
But let it whistle as it will,
We'll keep our Christmas merry still.

—Sir Walter Scott

When Christmas bells are swinging above the fields of snow,
We hear sweet voices ringing from lands of long ago,
And etched on vacant places
Are half-forgotten faces
Of friends we used to cherish,
And loves we used to know.

—Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Love came down at Christmas;
Love all lovely, love divine;
Love was born at Christmas,
Stars and angels gave the sign.

—Christina Rossetti