Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ATTENDANTS, by DAVID MORTON


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ATTENDANTS, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The mild-eyed oxen and the gentle ass
Last Line: Something that chanced because the inn was full.
Subject(s): Animals; Asses & Mules; Bethlehem, Palestine; Christmas; Oxen; Nativity, The


THE mild-eyed Oxen and the gentle Ass,
By manger or in pastures that they graze,
Lift their slow heads to watch us where we pass,
A reminiscent wonder in their gaze.
Their low humility is like a crown,
A grave distinction they have come to wear,—
Their look gone past us—to a little Town,
And a white miracle that happened there.

An old, old vision haunts those quiet eyes,
Where proud remembrance drifts to them again,
Of Something that has made them humbly wise,
—These burden-bearers for the race of men—
And lightens every load they lift or pull,
Something that chanced because the Inn was full.





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