 | A Little Book of XXIV Carols |  |
17
THE CHRISTMAS MIRACLE
About the middle of the night
When bells shake all the belfries tall,
And pious folk by candle-light
Kneel at the Mass as by a stall.
When bells shake all the belfries tall,
And pious folk by candle-light
Kneel at the Mass as by a stall.
The pious people's exaltation
Rises like incense in God's sight;
He hath a simpler congregation
Out in the snow-drifts and the night.
Rises like incense in God's sight;
He hath a simpler congregation
Out in the snow-drifts and the night.
Oh! listen, listen, children dear,
Across the hill-side in the snow,
The ox inclines a patient fear,
The sheep are bleating soft and low.
Across the hill-side in the snow,
The ox inclines a patient fear,
The sheep are bleating soft and low.
For when the Christmas bells are pealing
They hear again the angels sing.
Oh see the simple beasts are kneeling
Once more to adore the Baby King!
They hear again the angels sing.
Oh see the simple beasts are kneeling
Once more to adore the Baby King!
So it hath happed to shepherd men,
More than to Kings from West and East,
To see the wondrous thing again,
The Adoration of the beast.
More than to Kings from West and East,
To see the wondrous thing again,
The Adoration of the beast.
18
For them, so innocent and simple,
Again the Stable stars the night,
The Mother covers with her wimple
The new-born Babe from frost and blight.
Again the Stable stars the night,
The Mother covers with her wimple
The new-born Babe from frost and blight.
At midnight on the Christmas Eve
The beasts kneel down in stall and byre,
And shake once more the hay to receive
The Heaven's Desire, the Earth's Desire.
The beasts kneel down in stall and byre,
And shake once more the hay to receive
The Heaven's Desire, the Earth's Desire.
| A Little Book of XXIV Carols | |