What gem shall, then, outshine their purity?

TUESDAY.

I dare not wish that my life’s days had been

When thou, O Christ! didst come in human guise

As seeming weak as poorest child that lies

On mother’s breast in infant sleep serene;

When thou the Father’s wisdom unto men

Didst speak with lips of little more than child;

Didst preach the kingdom of the undefiled;

Didst pardon sin and pity human pain.