Down the chimney St.Nicholas came with a bound.
     He was dressed all in furs from his head to his foot,
     and his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
         A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
     And he looked like a pedlar just opening his pack.
     His eyes how they twinkled! His dimples how merry!
     His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry;
         His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
     And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow.
     The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
     And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
         He had a broad face and a little round belly
     That shook, when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.
     He was chubby and plump - a right jolly old elf -
     And laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.

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