Poems (Procter)/A Christmas Carol
For works with similar titles, see A Christmas Carol.
HE moon that now is shining In skies so blue and bright,Shone ages since on Shepherds Who watched their flocks by night.There was no sound upon the earth, The azure air was still,The sheep in quiet clusters lay, Upon the grassy hill,
A CHRISTMAS CAROL.
HE moon that now is shining In skies so blue and bright,Shone ages since on Shepherds Who watched their flocks by night.There was no sound upon the earth, The azure air was still,The sheep in quiet clusters lay, Upon the grassy hill,When lo! a white-winged Angel The watchers stood before,And told how Christ was born on earth, For mortals to adore;He bade the trembling Shepherds Listen, nor be afraid,And told how in a manger The glorious Child was laid.
When suddenly in the Heavens Appeared an Angel band,(The while in reverent wonder The Syrian Shepherds stand,)And all the bright host chanted Words that shall never cease,—Glory to God in the highest, On earth good-will and peace!
The vision in the heavens Faded, and all was still, And the wondering shepherds left their flocks, To feed upon the hill:Towards the blessed city Quickly their course they held,And in a lowly stable Virgin and Child beheld.
Beside a humble manger Was the Maiden Mother mild.And in her arms her Son divine, A new-born Infant, smiled.No shade of future sorrow From Calvary then was cast;Only the glory was revealed, The suffering was not passed.
The Eastern kings before him knelt, And rarest offerings brought;The shepherds worshipped and adored The wonders God had wrought:They saw the crown for Israel's King, The future's glorious part:—But all these things the Mother kept And pondered in her heart.
Now we that Maiden Mother The Queen of Heaven call;And the Child we call our Jesus, Saviour and Judge of all.But the star that shone in Bethlehem Shines still, and shall not cease,And we listen still to the tidings, Of Glory and of Peace.