It would be helpful if these song lyrics were laid out the way they were submitted instead of one line after the other. in a single paragraph. it's not so easy for an amateur (and some of us pro's)to stick to the metre without each line being a single line. I don't know if I said exactly wht I meant, I hope it's understood.

Anyway, the poem I quoted, "Christmas in the workhouse" is not a parody of John McCutcheon's "Christmas in the Trenches" I'm truly sorry that I got the titles mixed up. The one I was referring to is altogether different, here it is.

CHRISTMAS IN THE HAREM
by A. Nonny Mouse

It were Christmas in the harem, all them eunuchs was hangin round,
And, four and twenty lassies was lyin' on the ground,
when in came the bald, fat sultan from out of his marble halls.
Sayin', "What do you want for Christmas, lads"?
And all them eunuchs answered,
(sung) "TIDINGS OF COMFORT AND JOY, COMFORT AND JOY,
OH TIDINGS OF COMFORT AND JOY".