Life — December 25, 1902 — page 56: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Scexe The Spirit of Christmas in the guise of St. Nicholas, decidedly wearicd as to expression, scated on a throne in the centre. Beside him stand the Spirits of Progress and Plenty, and a vast con- course of people arc grouped before him. The curtain rises toa faint fanfare of horns and a listless ringing of bells. Tur. WEARILY DRESSE: “Shall Srint or Cunistaas ntses FROM IIS THRONE AND AD- THE PEOPLE? a king rei; departed, Whose ears no longer hear the sound of praise? Why should I linger, mournfully, half- hearted, Who knew a better homage in old days? n whose glory hath “Why should I stay, a mocking people name me— A crowded land hath little place for me. With poor observance ye, my chosen» shame me— Were it not better that I left fre ye— Cronus or Bustin ando): “We are kin to the trolley and L Or the thi o faster th he stocks that we buy and we sell We go up and down every day. It's hurry and jostle and jump For the million, the dollar, the dime, And we'd gladly give the observ- ances due, But you notice we haven't the time.” (acceler: than you Ecuo rrom DisconsoLate Wives You notice they haven't the time.” They disperse hurriedly in various di- rections. BRASS r or Servinity I) r CES TO IFORM ADVAD THE THRONE (recitative): “Now would you take from us our day of plenty, The Passing of Christmas. A TRAVESTY. Our expect That court, precedent d we pray tion of the ten or twenty by some law unmade ij ny Ry ightful, we extort? this occasion Drostrate slips Deprive us not of this our day of tips.” ere Cronus oF DOME: MEN, JANITOR THE DavGurers “There's never a man so t As could look us again in the eyes ‘They may wonder and rant and rave, But they've never the nerve to try. We can charge, smash, break, defy, And th sus nay, And we snicker and grin as we gather them in— Our tips upon Christmas Da "s nobody Tue Serr or Curistaas nows ms HEAD UPON MIS HANDS AND GROANS: “Have I not spoken truth? But who et In strange, wi of fire Jd raiment and with eyes Cronus or Poets (furioxo) “Only once, only once in the year Are the editors suddenly gracious; Only once do they bid us appear In a fashion removed from ious. When we proffer our poems on Spring With blindness they're struck or stra- Lismus, And the one, only time when they covet our rhyme at Christo Christmas. pugna- Is at Christmas, at ANTIPHONE, ND? “Mas! or Epitors IN BACK: Alas! Ala Spinit or CuristMas GROANS: : have T stayed too long. indeed ; feet are heavy and my lead; Men set a tinsel crown upon my head, And send me begging in a cloak of greed. too long heart is 3ut who are these who come in fine arr Bedecked with jew robes 7” and with rustling Tue Spit oF Pu “TIeed thou ENTY ¢ my people!” Corvus QUEENS (adagio) : or Society “Automobiles—we dozens ; Checks, furs and jewels—not for these we pray; But why deprive us of that blessed day Wherein we cousins? have them by the emulate our British “To have one's with hol It’s not the thing at all to stay in town— To take the pick of the Four Hun- dred down And make spasmodic efforts to be jolly. country house bedecked “Not that we really care for all these capers, But Christmas games and Punch are sweetly queer, And one can bribe the villagers to cheer, And then it always reads well in the papers.” Tue ASIDE Srintr or CrristMas TURNS. AND SHUDDERS : ow have I fallen low as ne'er before! But where are they, the loving hearts and free, The merry little children that of yore Came clustering to my knee? “Who gave me a Saint’s name and, in delight, Praised me in games they played and songs they sung What time before the hearth on Christ- mas night The gaping stockings hung. “Ttid them appear to tell me once again Their olden love, to show how good a thing comicbooks.com