Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SLEEP, HOLY BABE, by EDWARD CASWALL


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SLEEP, HOLY BABE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Sleep, holy babe, upon thy mother's breast
Last Line: That I thereby may live.
Variant Title(s): To The Infant Jesus Aslee
Subject(s): Christmas; Nativity, The


Sleep, Holy Babe,
Upon Thy mother's breast;
Great Lord of earth and sea and sky,
How sweet it is to see Thee lie
In such a place of rest!

Sleep, Holy Babe,
Thine angels watch around,
All bending low, with folded wings,
All bending low, with folded wings,
Before the incarnate King of Kings,
In reverent awe profound.

Sleep, Holy Babe,
While I with Mary gaze
In joy upon that face awhile,
Upon the loving Infant smile,
Which there divinely plays.

Sleep, Holy Babe,
Ah! take Thy brief repose:
Too quickly will Thy slumbers break,
And Thou to lengthened pains awake,
That death alone shall close.

Then must those hands
Which now so fair I see,
Those little pearly feet of Thine,
So soft, so delicately fine,
Be pierced and rent for me!

Then must that brow
Its thorny crown receive;
That cheek, more lovely than the rose,
Be drenched with blood, and marred with blows,
That I thereby may live.





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