A Christmas Wassail or Be You Healthy this Christmastide!

We gather today to wish you health -
Wæs hæl, wæs hæl a toast to all;
For you we raise a glass for wealth
A heartfelt toast that’s not too small.

Wæs hæl, wæs hæl!

Ignored he sits, cold and homeless -
Wæs hæl, wæs hæl to Bernie dejected;
Bottle in hand, unloved and rootless
By shoppers avoided, despised, rejected.

Tesco customers pass him by -
Wæs hæl, wæs hæl a toast to you
Christmas is coming, so much to buy,
God bless us all – so festive and true.

Wæs hæl, wæs hæl!

Ebolo, this Christmas, to families so dread -
Wæs hæl, wæs hæl who wait to die;
And those who bury the dead,
For doctors and nurses, their safety deny.

For those who flee Islamic State -
Wæs hæl, wæs hæl to those who perished;
Beheaded by blades of butchers who hate.
For evil that stalks, a demonic that’s cherished.

And innocent children slaughtered and torn
By Taliban bullets in Peshawar
Wæs hæl, wæs hæl to those who mourn
Their children who lived, but live no more.

Remember the dying of war-torn Syria -
Wæs hæl, wæs hæl to children of famine,
Orphans alone from Guinea to Somalia,
Scratching existence from a soil so barren.

Wæs hæl, wæs hæl!

So raise your glasses enjoy your health -
Wæs hæl, wæs hæl a toast to all;
Happy are we, but what’s the truth -
A birth, long past – a child so small?

Wæs hæl, wæs hæl!

17 November 2014

 


 
Wassail (Old English wæs hæl, literally 'be you healthy') refers both to the salute 'Waes Hail' and to the drink of wassail, a hot mulled cider traditionally drunk as an integral part of wassailing, an ancient southern English drinking ritual intended to ensure a good cider apple harvest the following year. (Wikipedia)