A thousand twinkling stars are gently gleaming,
The world is hush'd, and all is laid to rest.
Save one, who wakeful in her lonely dwelling,
Of Juda born, a stem of Jesse's rod,
A virgin pure, all others far excelling,
Uplifts her heart in tranquil prayer to God.
The while she prays, behold the silence broken,
She starts, a look of fear o'erspreads her face;
She hears, till then to mortal ears unspoken,
Those words of love, "Hail, Lady, full of grace!
Fear not, the Lord is with thee; thou art chosen
The Virgin Mother of thy God to be;
And many a heart in sin and guilt now frozen,
Shall melt beneath the sunbeam born of thee."
O Spouse of God, O Queen of earth and heaven,
O holy Mother of the Incarnate Word,
In meekest accents is thine answer given,
"Behold the willing handmaid of the Lord."
