Merry Christmas!

In the ivy-clad halls, where shadows creep,
The winter winds whisper, cold and deep.
Christmas approached with a silent tread,
But in fraternity row, mirth lay dead.

A decree came down, stern and severe,
"Cease the revels," it rang, clear and austere.
The brothers, once merry, now cloaked in gloom,
Faced a season of joy in a desolate room.

No laughter echoed off the cold, stone walls,
No twinkling lights festooned the empty halls.
Just the ghost of past parties, a specter so grim,
Haunting the present, where light grew dim.

The tree stood unlit, a sentinel of loss,
No ornaments gleaming beneath the frost.
The stockings hung limp, no warmth to be found,
In the silence that wrapped its chill all around.

The crackle of fire, once heartening and bright,
Now a flicker, a wisp, in the long winter night.
Each brother alone, with thoughts somber and deep,
While the world outside drifted, lulled into sleep.

The faculty watched with a stern, wary eye,
Pleased with the stillness, under the sky.
But in the quiet, a truth whispered, stark and clear,
Joy can't be commanded, nor can it be steered.

In the absence of laughter, the echo of cheer,
Lay a somber lesson, cold and severe.
For in stifling the spirit, in quenching the light,
The heart of the season was lost to the night.

So remember this tale of control and might,
Of a Christmas in shadow, devoid of delight.
Where rules reigned supreme, and joy was forsaken,
And the spirit of fraternity, chilled and shaken.