THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM.
Lo in the east the Star begins to rise.
The glorious centre for admiring eyes
Of men and angels—Herald of the morn
So long foretold, the Prince of peace is born!
O'er all the earth let hallelujahs ring,
Let all the earth a fitting tribute bring—
With gold and silver, frankincense and myrrh.
Come from the south, or, clad in robes of fur,
Come from the frozen north, from east and west,
Prince, priest and warrior, earth's great ones and best,
Come to the manger, humbly there lay down
The sword, the mitre and the jeweled crown.
The rich and noble celebrate the day
With pomp and show; but who are these? make way
Ye sons of wealth! ye rulers stand aside!
This is no place, this is no hour for pride;
The sick, the lame, the Wind, the deaf, the dumb,
The sinful, poor and sorrowful may come;
And even I can bring my little store—
A weary, sin-sick heart—I've nothing more:
The world may frown, the lofty may despise,
The gift is precious in my Saviour's eyes.
To him as sacred are the tears that fall
In lowly cottage as in princely hall,—
No rich, no poor his loving bosom knows,
He cares for all and pities all their woes,
In the same censer offers up their prayers,
And on his heart their names alike he bears.
O Star above all stars! whose blessed light
Illumes the darkness of our moral night,
Still guide our wandering feet till He whose birth
Thou didst announce shall come again to earth,
And wise and simple, king and subject meet
To hear their doom before the judgment-seat,—
Till nature's groans with human groans shall cease,
And Earth itself, once more with Heaven at peace,
Shall put her robes of deathless beauty on,
Time be no more, and the millennium dawn!