A Christmas Carol
for
All Good Soldiers and Sailors |
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I. |
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On a Christmas morning
Did great Gabriel say:
“Jesu, Son of Mary,
Bide with us to-day.
“Is it not unseemly |
5 |
That this bitter morn,
’Mid the hosts of Herod,
Mary’s Babe be born? [page 1]
“Scattered are Thy shepherds,
Scattered are Thy sheep, |
10 |
Armies on the hillside
Ceaseless vigil keep.
“Burning is the manger,
Maddened is the beast,
Bearing arms, the Wise Man |
15 |
Cometh from the East.
“See! Thy Mother Mary,
Bleeding on the ground;
And the meek St. Joseph
Dies without a sound. |
20 |
“With the weeping Angels
Shuddering afar,
Tremulous and fainting,—
Pales the Bethlehem Star. [page 2]
“Murderer of Mary! |
25 |
World of hate and scorn!
Not for you shall Mary’s
Holy Child be born! |
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II. |
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“SCATTERED be My shepherds,
Stricken be My sheep,
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30 |
Though My mother Mary
And good Joseph sleep,—
“I, the Babe of Bethlehem,
To the earth will go:
Never holier Noël |
35 |
God nor man may know.
“Burning be the manger,
Maddened be the kine, [page 3]
Shepherds, Kings or Wise Men
Shall not lack a sign. |
40 |
“Hover, herald Angels!
Sparkle, Wonder-star!
Where My weary soldiers
And My sailors are.
“Shine upon the billow, |
45 |
Meadow, stream and fen:—
There a thousand thousand
Men have died for men.
“Carol, holy Angels!
Sing your sweetest song |
50 |
For a world of heroes—
Sing the whole day long! [page 4]
“Holy, herald Angels!
Hail this happy morn!
’Mid the beasts of Bethlehem |
55 |
Many Christs be born!” [page 5] |
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