LOVELIEST dawn of gold and rose Steals across undrifted snows; In brown, rustling oak leaves stir Squirrel, nuthatch, woodpecker; Brief their matins, but, by noon, All the sunny wood's a-tune: Jays, forgetting their harsh cries, Pipe a spring note, clear and true; Wheel on angel wings of blue, Trumpeters of Paradise; Then the tiniest feathered thing, All a-flutter, tail and wing, Gives himself to caroling: "Chick-a-dee-dee, chick-a-dee! Jesulino, hail to thee! Lowliest baby born to-day, Pillowed on a wisp of hay; King no less of sky and earth, And singing sea; Jesu! Jesu! most and least! For the sweetness of thy birth Every little bird and beast, Wind and wave and forest-tree, Praises God exceedingly, Exceedingly." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CAMPUS SONNET: MAY MORNING by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET CAROL: NEW STYLE by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET DEVOURER OF NATIONS by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET CONTRA MORTEM: THE BEING AS VISION by HAYDEN CARRUTH CONTRA MORTEM: THE ECSTASY by HAYDEN CARRUTH NOTES FOR THE FIRST LINE OF A SPANISH POEM by JAMES GALVIN |