Cold wind had blown And howled through the doors From the north had driven storm Fear had taken form of a guest From shadow born, pale as snow And Marley's words had turned
"I wear the chain I forged in life I made it link by link and yard by yard Expect the first tomorrow when the bell tolls one Because you will be haunted by three Spirits"
- How can I have slept through A whole day and far into another night? -
The quarter was so long The hour itself and nothing else And the curtains of his bed Were drawn aside by a hand
Of a strange figure dressed in purest white Breaking out from light, half old half child
"I am the Ghost of Christmas Past Your past, rise and walk with me"
The darkness and the mist had vanished It was a clear, cold, winter day
- Good heaven, I was bred in this place! - "These are but shadows Of the things that have been"
The school was not quite deserted A solitary child neglected by his friends Was left there still
And Scrooge sat down upon a form and wept to see His poor forgotten self as he used to be And the visit of his little sister, Fan Always a delicate creature Whom a breath might have withered But she died a woman
"Let us see another Christmas"
And it was Christmas time again It was made plain enough by the dressing of the shops But it was evening and the streets were lighted up The Ghost stopped at a certain warehouse door - I was apprenticed here -
Waltz of the Apprentice
A ball room as you would desire to see upon a winter's night In came a fiddler with a music-book, in came Mrs Fezziwig In came the three Miss Fezziwigs, beaming and lovable In came the six young followers whose hearts they broke
There were more dances and there were forfeits And more dances and there was cake And there was negus, and there was a great piece Of cold roast beef and there was a great piece of cold boiled And there were mince-pies and plenty of beer The fire and a mistletoe wreath and there were red candles Wine, cheers, laughings, happiness
Once upon Loss, Regret and Broken Promise
He was older now And his face had begun to wear The signs of care and avarice He was not alone But sat by the side of a fair Young girl in mourning dress In whose eyes there were tears
"It matters little To you, very little You fear the world too much Another idol has displaced me, a golden one I have seen your nobler aspirations Fall off one by one And I release you with a full heart For the love of him you once were"
She left him and they parted - Show me no more! Conduct me home! Why do you delight to torture me? No more! - "One shadow more", exclaimed the Ghost
"And now see the family that you have never had"
A daughter was standing near the fire with her mother And children asking for Christmas presents When the husband suddenly said:
"I saw an old friend of yours this afternoon Mr. Scrooge it was, I passed his office window And he had a candle inside His partner lies upon the point of death And there he sat alone, quite alone in the world I do believe"
- Leave me Take me back Haunt me no longer -
STAVE 3: The Second of the Three Spirits, The Serpentine Crowned
Serpent, it creeps to man asleep Without any warmth, without any sound Man, he sleeps where serpent awaits Without any awareness, without any care
Sitting up in bed to get his thoughts together Scrooge had no occasion to be told That the bell was again upon the stroke of one Now being prepared for almost anything
He turned uncomfortably cold When he began to wonder Which of his curtains This new spectre Would draw back He put them every one Aside w