65 Proclaimed Christ’s birth as a comfort to thee,
Thou choicest of cities! Now the child has come,
Born to make worthless the work of the Hebrews.
He bringeth thee bliss; thy bonds he unlooseth;
He striveth for the stricken; understandeth their
needs,—
70 How woeful men must wait upon mercy.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[1.] This poem begins in the fragmentary manner indicated by the translation.
[2.] See Psalms 118:22.