I HEARD the bells of Bethlehem ring -- Their voice was sweeter than the priests'; I heard the birds of Bethlehem sing Unbidden in the churchly feasts. They clung and sung on the swinging chain High in the dim and incensed air; The priests, with repetitions vain, Chanted a never-ending prayer. So bell and bird and priest I heard, But voice of bird was most to me; It had no ritual, no word, And yet it sounded true and free. I thought Child Jesus, were he there, Would like the singing birds the best, And clutch his little hands in air And smile upon his mother's breast. BETHLEHEM, Holy Week, I'96. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE TEMPEST: PROLOGUE by JOHN DRYDEN THE VOICE OF THE BANJO by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR THE WATCH OF A SWAN by SARAH MORGAN BRYAN PIATT THE LAST CAESAR, 1851-1870 by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH THE ARGONAUTS (ARGONATUICA): HYLAS by APOLLONIUS RHODIUS PRAYER by EVGENY ABRAMOVICH BARATYNSKY EMANCIPATION IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, APRIL 16, 1862 by JAMES MADISON BELL NORTHERN CALIFORNIA NIGHT (STRAITS OF CARQUINEZ) by WILLIAM ROSE BENET |