“[...] be ye sure
He serveth his Maker who aideth the poor.”
The quote is the last sentiment in the poem (indeed the last lines) and addresses the rich. The speaker has spent the poem establishing that while the season of winter is necessary for nature, it is an extremely difficult time for the poor and the help of those more fortunate is badly needed. While the argument for help is initially based on human kindness, the last two stanzas are focused on what helping the poor means in terms of god’s approval, culminating in the quote given above.
It can be understood both as a warning and as an incentive, that giving to the poor will please god and, in reverse, a refusal (thus disobeying god’s wish) would anger him. The term “Maker” (l. 32) also emphasizes that the rich themselves are somewhat helpless in front of god (as the poor are to the forces of nature, a different aspect of god). God has made them (and their wealth) and could thus also unmake them.
"Who laughs at my power? the young and the gay;
But they dream not how closely I track their way."
The speaker of the poem is the personified time, calling himself “Old King Time” (l.8) who is characterized as an arrogant force who takes pleasure in forcing humans to submit to his power. The above quote is the first time in the poem that the speaker is being outwardly hostile to humans, seemingly taking pleasure and pride in stripping the “young and the gay” (l. 13) of their youth and optimism. For this end he goes so far as to closely follow them, not indulging them in a period of carefree youth but rather making sure that he punishes those who he perceives to laugh at him.
This also demonstrates time’s immense pride in his power in that he cannot even let childish carelessness go but is rather vengeful instead. Additionally, this sentiment is the first indicator that time is not only hostile towards humans but actively destructive (stalking them closely), which is the topic of the last stanza.
“Then sing to the holly, the Christmas holly,
That hangs over peasant and king:
While we laugh and carouse ’neath its glitt’ring boughs,
To the Christmas holly we’ll sing.”
The above quote is comprised of the last lines of the first stanza and epitomizes the speaker’s attitude towards the titular holly plant. For the speaker the holly plant symbolizes equality and unity, as every person, from lowborn (“peasant” l.10) to highest born (“king” l.10) shares in this tradition of hanging the plant up during Christmas time. Everyone is merry beneath it, regardless of social status, money or power and, as intended by the speaker, everyone joins in this song to praise the holly’s festivity and beauty.
The quote also introduces the beauty and happiness that the speaker associates with the plant. While there are other plants that can thrive in wintery conditions, none of them hold such a positive and optimistic place in the speaker’s opinion. The holly is implicitly compared to a light that hangs over the heads of everyone, illuminating every room with “its glitt’ring boughs” (l. 11).
