The Cambridge Carol Book/Ho! Steward, bid my servants
XIV. HO! STEWARD, BID MY SERVANTS
1.'Ho! steward, bid my servants
Go forth, and hither call,
For guests, my friends and neighbours,
To sup with me in hall;
That, at this blessed season,
Which comes but once a year,
We may, as folk in olden days,
Rejoice, and make good cheer.'
2.'Sire, shall I bid the noble,
That banquets in his state,
With purple and fine linen,
With gold and silver plate?'
'Nay, bid me not the noble,
For he hath got enow;
But bring me in the country man,
That liveth by the plow.'
3.'Sire, shall I bid in Divès,
For iti s very plain,
If ye give him a banquet,
He'll banquet you again?'
'Nay, bid not hither Divès,
For it shall ne'er be thus,
But go among the alley-lanes,
And fetch in Lazarus.'
4.'Sire, shall I bid the merchant,
That hath upon the seas
His fleets of caravellas,
And right great argosies?'
'Nay, bid me not the merchant,
But go and fetch the clerk,
That with the bandog goes to rest,
And riseth with the lark.'
5.'And wherefore must I turn me
From noble and from rich?
And wherefore seek the poor man,
That dwells in lane and ditch?'
'Man, lay to heart the reason,
Because the King of all,
Though rich, grew poor, for mortal sake,
And born was in a stall.
6.'For these be they, good steward,
Whom God doth chiefly choose,
And these, His poorer brethren,
No man may dare refuse.
So, in this bleak December,
Then make we best good cheer,
When, for the sake of Babe Jesú,
The poor we welcome here.'