Classic and Contemporary Poetry
HIS BIRTHDAY, by MAY LOUISE RILEY SMITH First Line: The day the christ-child's tender eyes Last Line: May find somewhat to comfort them. Alternate Author Name(s): Smith, Mary Louise Riley Subject(s): Birthdays; Christmas; Jesus Christ; Nativity, The | ||||||||
THE day the Christ-child's tender eyes Unveiled their beauty on the earth, God lit a new star in the skies To flash the message of His birth; And wise men read the glowing sign, And came to greet the Child divine. Low kneeling in the stable's gloom, Their precious treasures they unrolled; The place was rich with sweet perfume; Upon the floor lay gifts of gold. And thus adoring they did bring To Christ the earliest offering. I think no nimbus wreathed the head Of the young King so rudely throned; The quilt of hay beneath Him spread The sleepy kine beside Him owned; And here and there in the torn thatch The sky thrust in a starry patch. Oh, when was new-born monarch shrined Within such canopy as this? The birds have cradles feather lined; And for their new babes princesses Have sheets of lace without a flaw, His pillow was a wisp of straw! He chose this way, it may have been, That those poor mothers, everywhere, Whose babies in the world's great inn Find scanty cradle-room and fare, As did the babe of Bethlehem, May find somewhat to comfort them. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DIFFERENT VIEWS; A CHRISMAS DUET by JOSEPH ASHBY-STERRY AN UNMERRY CHRISTMAS by AMBROSE BIERCE CHRISTMAS IN CHINATOWN by AUGUST KLEINZAHLER CHRISTMAS TREE by JOHN FREDERICK NIMS ISAIAH'S COAL by JOHN FREDERICK NIMS SOUNDS OF THE RESURRECTED DEAD MAN'S FOOTSTEPS (#3): 1. BEAST, PEACH.. by MARVIN BELL IF WE KNEW; OR, BLESSINGS OF TO-DAY by MAY LOUISE RILEY SMITH |
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