`` No , Spirit ! Oh no , no ! '' The finger still was there . `` Spirit ! '' he cried , tight clutching at its robe , `` hear me ! I am not the man I was . I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse . Why show me this , if I am past all hope ? '' For the first time the hand appeared to shake . `` Good Spirit , '' he pursued , as down upon the ground he fell before it : `` your nature intercedes for me , and pities me . Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you have shown me by an altered life ? '' The kind hand trembled . `` I will honour Christmas in my heart , and try to keep it all the year . I will live in the Past , the Present , and the Future . The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me . I will not shut out the lessons that they teach . Oh , tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone ! '' In his agony , he caught the spectral hand . It sought to free itself , but he was strong in his entreaty , and detained it . The Spirit , stronger yet , repulsed him .
Holding up his hands in a last prayer to have his fate reversed , he saw an alteration XXXXX the Phantom 's hood and dress .
For as before by in of past to upon within