"And whither shall we ride," they said,
"To find the hidden thing
That times the course of all our stars
And all our auguring?"
They were the Wise Men of the East,
And none so wise as they;
"Alas!" the King of Persia cried,
"And must ye ride away?
"Yet since ye go a-riding, sirs,
I pray ye, ride for me,
And carry me my golden gifts
To the King o' Galilee.
"Go riding into Palestine,
A long ride and a fair!"
"'Tis well!" the Mages answered him,
"As well as anywhere!"
They rode by day, they rode by night,
The stars came out on high,—
"And, oh!" said King Balthazar,
As he gazed into the sky,
"We ride by day, we ride by night,
To a King in Galilee;
We leave a king in Persia,
And kings no less are we.
"Yet often in the deep blue night,
When stars burn far and dim,
I wish I knew a greater King,
To fall and worship him.
"A king who should not care to reign,
But wonderful and fair;
A king—a king that were a star
Aloft in miles of air!"
"A star is good," said Melchior,
"A high, unworldly thing;
But I would choose a soul alive
To be my Lord and King.
"Not Herod, nay, nor Cyrus, nay,
Not any king at all;
For I would choose a new-born child
Laid in a manger-stall."