The Wise Men from the East
(A LITTLE BOY'S CHRISTMAS LESSON)
Why were the Wise Men three,
Instead of five or seven?"
They had to match, you see,
The archangels in Heaven.
God sent them, sure and swift,
By his mysterious presage,
To bear the threefold gift
And take the threefold message.
Thus in their hands were seen
The gold of purest Beauty,
The myrrh of Truth all-clean,
The frankincense of Duty.
And thus they bore away
The loving heart's great treasure,
And knowledge clear as day,
To be our life's new measure.
They went back to the East
To spread the news of gladness.
There one became a priest
To the new word of sadness;
And one a workman, skilled
Beyond the old earth's fashion;
And one a scholar, filled
With learning's endless passion.
God sent them for a sign
He would not change nor alter
His good and fair design,
However man may falter.