Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, L'ENFANT JESUS DE PRAGUE, by PAUL CLAUDEL


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

L'ENFANT JESUS DE PRAGUE, by                    
First Line: December snow! The great world dead in gloom
Last Line: Tries to awake and cannot break the charm.
Subject(s): Jesus Christ; Prague, Czech Republic


December snow! The great world dead in gloom
But yet how fair, my God, in that small room!
The hearth replete with gleaming coals aglow
That on the ceiling drowsy shadows throw!...
And one hears but the thickened drip of rain.
Upon His shelf, above the counterpane,
Beneath His globe of glass, His crowned head,
The world held in one hand, the other spread
To shield the little ones who trust His might,
All lovely in His robe that glimmers bright
And warm beneath His hat of yellow tone,
Prague's Infant Jesus reigns upon His throne.

Alone before the hearth which lightens Him
As flames upon a tabernacle gleam,
He guards His little brothers till the day.
Unseen as breath that breathes itself away,
A holy Presence in the chamber clings
Alike to innocent and simple things.

Where He attends not any ill comes near;
One sleeps! Jesus, our brother, He is here.
He is for us of all good things the source:
The wondrous china doll, the wooden horse,
The sheep ... all three are in the corner there
We dream and ours are all things good and fair!
The shades are drawn ... below, one knows not where,
Through snow and dark one hears a cloister bell:
The child in his warm bed with joy knows well
That One who loves him much defends from harm;
He stirs a little, sighs, throws out an arm,
Tries to awake and cannot break the charm.





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