Shoe or Stocking

In Holland, children set their shoes,

This night, outside the door;

These wooden shoes Knecht Clobes sees,

And fills them from his store.

But here we hang our stockings up

On handy hook or nail;

And Santa Claus, when all is still,

Will plump them, without fail.

Speak out, you Sobersides, speak out,

And let us hear your views;

Between a stocking and a shoe,

What do you see to choose?

One instant pauses Sobersides,

A little sigh to fetch—

"Well, seems to me a stocking's best,

For wooden shoes won't stretch!"

— Edith M. Thomas