Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE VIGIL OF JOSEPH, by ELSA BARKER



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE VIGIL OF JOSEPH, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: After the wise men went, and the strange star
Last Line: "it loves—and serves—and cannot understand!"
Subject(s): Christmas; Joseph, Saint (1st Century B.c.-a.d.); Nativity, The


AFTER the Wise Men went, and the strange star
Had faded out, Joseph the father sat
Watching the sleeping Mother and the Babe,
And thinking stern, sweet thoughts the long night through.

"Ah, what am I, that God has chosen me
To bear this blesséd burden, to endure
Daily the presence of this loveliness,
To guide this Glory that shall guide the world?

"Brawny these arms to win Him bread, and broad
This bosom to sustain Her. But my heart
Quivers in lonely pain before that Beauty
It loves—and serves—and cannot understand!"





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