At Bethlehem

[revdrew61]

Our Christmas Liturgy opens with the final verse of a beautiful poem by Richard Crashaw (1613-49). Here is the full poem:

Come, we shepherds, whose blest sight
Hath met Love’s noon in nature’s night;
Come, lift we up our loftier song,
And wake the sun that lies too long.

Gloomy night embraced the place
Where the noble infant lay:
The Babe looked up and showed his face;
In spite of darkness, it was day:-
It was the Day, Sweet! and did rise
Not from the east but from thine eyes.

We saw thee in thy balmy nest,
Young dawn of our eternal day;
We saw thine eyes break from their east,
And chase the trembling shades away;
We saw thee, (and we bless the sight),
We saw thee by thine own sweet light.

Welcome, all wonders in one sight!
Eternity shut in a span!
Summer in winter! Day in night!
Heaven in earth! and God in man!
Great Little One, whose all-embracing birth,
Lifts earth to heaven, stoops heaven to earth.

[Sobornost]

Wonderful Drew - eyes breaking from the East is an extraordinary image; a miracle in words. Merry Christmas

[Cindy_Skillman]

Wow! Amazing. Someday perhaps I’ll write poetry like that – when I’ve lived a few thousand years . . . maybe.)

Thanks for sharing this. It was a blessing.