Come, guard this night the Christmas Pie,
That the Thiefe, though ne’er so slie,
With his Flesh-hooks don’t come nie
To catch it
From him, who all alone sits there,
Having his eyes still in his care,
And a deale of nightly feare,
To watch it.
The Christmas Pie
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Summary
"The Christmas Pie" is a short, playful poem by Robert Herrick in which a lone, wide-eyed watchman is called upon to guard a precious Christmas pie through the night. The stakes are delightfully domestic: a sly thief armed with flesh-hooks lurks in the dark, threatening to snatch the festive prize. Herrick captures the comic tension of one anxious soul sitting alone in the dark, eyes peeled, heart full of "nightly fear," protecting a simple but beloved Christmas tradition.
