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3. Who was the only person who was not happy during Christmas?

a young child a grumpy adult

an old miser a poor pauper

B. Answer these questions.

1. Describe how Christmas time is depicted in the poem.

2. Which lines tell you that even the inanimate things and the earth are spreading the
Christmas cheer?
3. How does the old miser spend his Christmas?

4. How is Christmas celebrated in happy houses?

5. What is the only thought of the old miser?

6. Match the lines from the poem with the correct summary.

The coasting crowd upon the hill A miser old man, sitting in dim and dark
With some new spirit seems to thrill; chamber, has only one thought, on how

And all the temple bells achime. to extract money from others.
Ring out the glee of Christmas time.

A sprig upon the chandelier The cold-hearted man should be
Says to the maidens, ‘Come not here!’ ashamed of himself as Christmas Day is

Even the pauper of the earth no ordinary day. The Christmas cheer
and the festive season is not for him.
Some kindly gift has cheered to mirth!

Within his chamber, dim and cold, The bustling crowd upon the hill is

There sits a grasping miser old. filled with new cheer and thrill. And all

He has no thought save one of gain,— the church bells chime harmoniously to
To grind and gather and grasp and drain. usher in the Christmas glee.

No, man of ice,—for shame, for shame! The mistletoe hanging from the
For ‘Christmas Day’ is no mere name. chandelier asks the maidens to stay away

No, not for you this ringing cheer, from it. And it is that time of the year
when even the poorest person has some
This festal season of the year.
gift to cheer himself.

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