Oh, Billy,
do you hear that bell speaking from the spire?
Has Willie fell, gone down the well,
or is it fire, fire?
And do you see a cinder star,
sizzling in the sky?
And crazy kings with
burning wings,
learning how to fly.
Oh sister, soft as any shawl,
the sharp snow winds the wire.
Pale as a pall, the cattle trawl,
the breath about the bough.
Now in the rear end eating air,
the bird chinks on the thong.
An d slowly through the holy blood,
the shepherd hauls his horn.
Oh, Father, is that cruel cry
coming from the night?
A wise man lost in the world's frost,
or is it only sky?
And when the Alleluia boys
drum their December din
Why do you call the constable
that he me lock them in
Oh mother, who will find the flock
And harness up the shine?
And who will lock the weather clock
If winter does not time?
And who will ship a farthing dip
upon the drifting day?
And seize a spark from heaven's dark
to burn the night away?
Oh Billy, will you wipe the word
from off your freezing tongue?
Now hire the house of district nurse,
because I am so young
And shall we push the business on
And do the best we can
To cut free from the Christmas tree,
the hanging holy man.
You