From feast and song the simple cowherd crept: Again the harp had passed him on its way And he was mute -- now in the fragrant hay Alone with dumb and patient beasts he wept; The oxen, ass, and timid sheep all kept Winter's harsh cold from reaching where he lay, Their humid breath rose like an incense gray As on the Eve when Christ among them slept. But ere the stars were folded in rose flame A Voice like a great wind rang clear and high, "Sing, Caedmon, of Creation's radiant birth!" And when the first flushed light of morning came A hymn to God upsoared into the sky, And a new speech was given to the earth. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TYRANNICK [TYRANNIC] LOVE: PROLOGUE by JOHN DRYDEN ROBERT GOULD SHAW by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR THE PROGRESS OF POESY; A PINDARIC ODE by THOMAS GRAY THE POET AND HIS BOOK by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY THE CARD-DEALER by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI THE LORDS OF THE MAIN by JOSEPH STANSBURY |