University of Virginia Library

Then to the cave they wended, and there spied
That which was more, if truth be testified,
Than all the pomp seen thro' proud Herod's porch
Ablaze with brass, and silk, and scented torch,
High on Beth-Haccarem; more to behold,
If men had known, than all the glory told
Of splendid Cæsar in his marbled home
On the white Isle, or audience-hall at Rome
With trembling princes thronged. A clay lamp swings
By twisted camel-cords, from blackened rings,
Showing with flickering gleams, a Child new-born
Wrapped in a cloth, laid where the beasts, at morn
Will champ their bean-straw: in the lamp's ray dim
A fresh-made Mother by Him, fostering Him
With face and mien to worship, speaking nought;
Close at hand Joseph, and the ass, hath brought
That precious twofold burden to the gate;
With goats, sheep, oxen, driven to shelter late.
No mightier sight! yet all sufficeth it—
If we will deem things be beyond our wit—
To prove Heaven's music true, and show Heaven's way,
How, not by famous kings, nor with array
Of brazen letters on the boastful stone,
But “by the mouth of babes,” quiet, alone,
Little beginnings planning for large ends,
With other purpose than fond man attends,
Wisdom and Love in secret fellowship
Guide our World's wanderings with a finger-tip;
And how, that night, as these did darkly see,
They sealed the first scrolls of Earth's history,
And opened what shall run till Death be dead.