A Christmas Carol

Before the paling of the stars,
     Before the winter morn,
Before the earliest cock-crow,
     Jesus Christ was born:
Born in a stable,
     Cradled in a manger,
In the world His hands had made
     Born a stranger.

Priest and King lay fast asleep
     In Jerusalem,
Young and old lay fast asleep
     In crowded Bethlehem:
Saint and Angel, ox and ass,
     Kept a watch together,
Before the Christmas daybreak
     In the winter weather.

Jesus on His Mother’s breast
     In the stable cold,
Spotless Lamb of God was He,
     Shepherd of the fold:
Let us kneel with Mary Maid,
     With Joseph bent and hoary,
With Saint and Angel, ox and ass,
     To hail the King of Glory.

This poem was published in Poems for Children (Educational Publishing Company, 1907). This poem is in the public domain.