A First Series of Hymns and Songs/Sacred Songs/Hymn to the Infant Jesus asleep in the arms of Mary
30. Hymn to the Infant Jesus asleep in the arms of Mary.
Sleep, Jesus, sleep,
Upon thy Mother's breast;
Great Lord of earth and sea and sky,
How sweet it is to see thee lie
In such a place of rest!
Sleep, Jesus, sleep;
While I with Mary gaze
In joy upon that face awhile,
Upon the loving infant smile
Which there divinely plays.
Sleep, Jesus, sleep;
Oh, take thy brief repose;
Too quickly will thy slumbers break,
And thou to lengthen'd pains awake,
Which death alone shall close.
Then must those hands
Which now so small I see,
Those little pearly feet of thine,
So soft, so delicately fine,
Be pierced and rent for me?
Then must that brow
Its thorny crown receive;
That cheek, more lovely than the rose,
Be drench'd with blood and marr'd with blows,
That I thereby may live?
O Mary blest,
Sweet Virgin, hear my cry;
Forgive the wrong that I have done
To thee, in causing thy dear Son
Upon the cross to die.
THE END.