But Amud is gentle and Hathor the mother is mild, And who would descend from the light of the Peaceful Places To war on a child? Yet here he lies, with a scarlet pomegranate petal Blown down on his cheek. The slow sun sinks to the sand like a shield of some burnished metal, But he does not speak. I have called, I have sung, but he neither will hear nor waken; So lightly, so whitely, he lies in the curve of my arm, Like a feather let fall from the bird the arrow hath taken, Who could see him, and harm? "The swallow flies home to her sleep in the eaves of the altar, And the crane to her nest." So do we sing o'er the mill, and why, ah, why should I falter, Since he goes to his rest? Does he play in their flowers as he played among these with his mother? Do the gods smile downward and love him and give him their care? Guard him well, O ye gods, till I come; lest the wrath of that Other Should reach to him there. Marjorie L. C. Pickthall CHRISTMAS CAROL As Joseph was a-waukin', "His birth-bed shall be neither "He neither shall be rocked "He neither shall be washen With white wine nor with red, But with the fair spring water "He neither shall be clothed As Joseph was a-waukin', Then be you glad, good people, And light you up your candles, For His star it shineth clear. Unknown REGINA CŒLI SAY, did his sisters wonder what could In a mild, silent little Maid like thee? one Apt to find Him in Husband and in Nothing to thee came strange in this. Wondrous, for, though True Virgin lives not but does know, All mothers worship little feet, And kiss the very ground they've trod; But, ah, thy little Baby sweet Who was indeed thy God! Coventry Patmore CHRIST THE MENDICANT A STRANGER, to His own His lowliness believed, And in her soul conceived To let Him in. He naked was, and she Of her humanity A garment wove : He hungered; and she gave, What most His heart did crave, A Mother's love. John Banister Tabb A CHRISTMAS CAROL THERE's a song in the air! And a baby's low cry! And the star rains its fire while the Beautiful sing, For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a king. There's a tumult of joy Ay! the star rains its fire and the Beautiful sing, For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a king. In the light of that star Has swept over the world. Every hearth is aflame, and the Beautiful sing In the homes of the nations that Jesus is King. We rejoice in the light, And we echo the song That comes down through the night From the heavenly throng. |