 | A Little Book of XXIV Carols |  |
9
THE VIRGIN'S HEN
Below the stable eaves that saw
The blessed Baby laid in straw,
A little when had built her nest.
She, honoured as the harmless beast,
Beheld the holy Birth with awe.
The blessed Baby laid in straw,
A little when had built her nest.
She, honoured as the harmless beast,
Beheld the holy Birth with awe.
“Sweet, sweet!” she sang, and still “Sweet, sweet!
O sweetest Babe from head to feet!
And sweet, sweet Mother!” To and fro
She fluttered; her small heart aglow
Enraptured her with holy heat.
O sweetest Babe from head to feet!
And sweet, sweet Mother!” To and fro
She fluttered; her small heart aglow
Enraptured her with holy heat.
“O happy I!” she said, “who stayed
When every Jenny Wren, afraid
At the first frost, fled to the South
I would I had the blackbird's mouth
To praise this Babe and Mother-maid!
When every Jenny Wren, afraid
At the first frost, fled to the South
I would I had the blackbird's mouth
To praise this Babe and Mother-maid!
“I would I might strip off,” she said,
“Gold feathers from my breast and head,
Enough to warm and shield withal
This comfortless small Babe in stall,
And would my feathers were His bed!”
“Gold feathers from my breast and head,
Enough to warm and shield withal
This comfortless small Babe in stall,
And would my feathers were His bed!”
10
Then by the manger perched that bird
With “Gloria, gloria to the Lord!”
Who would have thought so small a throat
Had room for such a piercing note?
The singing stars and angels heard.
With “Gloria, gloria to the Lord!”
Who would have thought so small a throat
Had room for such a piercing note?
The singing stars and angels heard.
Therefore they call the little wren
Ever the Blessèd Mary's hen.
Therefore no boy shall cast a stone
When Jenny Wren, sitting her lone,
Sings how God came on earth for men.
Ever the Blessèd Mary's hen.
Therefore no boy shall cast a stone
When Jenny Wren, sitting her lone,
Sings how God came on earth for men.
Therefore her eggs be safe in tree
And all her merry brood go free.
And all her merry brood go free.
| A Little Book of XXIV Carols | |