The Gift I Didn't Get!

A Christmas Poem by Peter McArthur, 1904

I Have presents by the dozen,

Meant to make my Christmas glad.

From each uncle, aunt and cousin,

Best a fellow ever had.

There's a keepsake from my mother,

Father sent a check and yet,

I am thinking of another

Of the one I didn't get.

There are gifts from all the fellows,

Pipes and things a chum will send:

There's a tie, all reds and yellows,

From a girl who calls me friend.

You would think me far from sighted

If you saw them all and yet.

I confess, I'm most delighted

With the one I didn't get.

She told me it was ready,

She'd prepared it long before:

I'd been calling on her steady

For as least a year or more.

She told me all about it.

And her eyes with tears were wet.

And I'm happy, never doubt it,

For that gift I didn't get.

Her attitude was altered

When I called on her last night,

But my tale of love I faltered.

And I guess I did it right.

And this little rhyme is written

'Cause I'm full of joy--you bet!

For a frosty little mitten

Was the gift I didn't get.