Poem of the Week: A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol

by Christina Rossetti

Before the paling of the stars,

Before the winter morn,
Before the earliest cockcrow
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.

HT: Coffeehouse Junkie