Whose heart doth hold the Christmas glow Hath little need of Mistletoe; Who bears a smiling grace of mien Need waste no time on wreaths of green; Whose lips have words of comfort spread Needs not the holly-berries red— His very presence scatters wide The spirit of the Christmastide.

The stanza argues that the true signs of Christmas are not material tokens—mistletoe, wreaths, holly—but the warmth and generosity a person carries. If one’s “heart” holds the Christmas “glow,” then traditional decorations become unnecessary because the individual embodies what they symbolize: welcome, grace, and goodwill. The poem’s logic is cumulative: inner joy produces outward kindness (“smiling grace”), which becomes active charity (“words of comfort”). In the final couplet, Bangs makes the ethical claim explicit: a person’s presence can “scatter wide” the season’s spirit, suggesting that Christmas is best enacted through human conduct that radiates consolation and fellowship.