His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow.

And the beard of 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 bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump—a right jolly old elf—

And I laughed, when I saw him, in spite of myself;