At Christmas play and make good cheer,

For Christmas comes but once a year.

Thomas Tusser (Circa 1515-1580): Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry. The Farmer's Daily Diet.

At Christmas I no more desire a rose

Than wish a snow in May's new-fangled mirth;

But like of each thing that in season grows.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Love's Labour's Lost. Act i. Sc. 1.

'T was the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring,—not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

Clement C Moore (1779-1863): A Visit from St. Nicholas.