Classic Poem

The old year is gone — so uncivil was I,
That I made not a couplet to bid him good bye,
But now that the new year is fairly come in,
Not to bid him a welcome, were surely a sin —
So welcome I bid him, tho' not to myself,
Yet to all who are wealthy in hope or in pelf,
All hearty good fellows to whom life is dear,
I heartily wish you a happy new year.
To the man, who is fit to be married, a wife,
And a grave unto him that is tired of life.
To my friends, that they may not have much to forgive,
To my foes, that they just may forget that I live,
To my love — thaTher charms may to her be a blessing,
Tho' to me I confess, they are rather distressing —
For the man of her choice may good fortune await him,
And then — why, I'll try very hard not to hate him.