MARY. THE THREE SHEPHERDS.
JOSEPH. THE THREE KINGS.
The Scene represents the Stable in 'Bethlehem. MARY has awakened, and is bending over the manger when the Child lies asleep on the ground.
MARY
Is it the morning? I am cold.
Look out and tell me if the moon
Has led the Stars into their fold;
Then shut the door and make it fast.
[JOSEPH rises, goes to the door, and looks out.]
JOSEPH
The night is blue, with stars of gold;
The middle watch of night is past;
See now, it will be morning soon!
Yet there is time enough for sleep.
[He shuts the door, and stands near the manger. ]
MARY
The child is sleeping, I have slept,
And in my dreams I think I wept;
I will not sleep again and weep.
JOSEPH
Tell me the dream.
MARY
I seemed to see
A mighty city, as it were
The city of Jerusalem;
And all the folk ran to and fro,
Shouting, and in the midst of them
Three woeful figures, and the three
Bore each a cross he could not bear;
And as I looked I seemed to know
The face of one of them, and then
Such bitter tears began to flow
That I awakened, and in fear
Felt for my child, and he was here.
And I was comforted again.
JOSEPH
O Mary, have no fear at all;
God is our Father, and shall keep
Our feet, whether we wake or sleep.
Lie down again, and lay your head
Here, where the careful ox has fed
That stands in sleep beside his stall.
[He lies down again and sleeps.]
MARY
Behold the handmaid of the Lord!
It was an angel, and I said
The words I feared to understand.
What was It when upon my bed
Suddenly the mild glory poured.
And in the glory was a voice
Bidding my soul greatly rejoice,
Because the Lord God was at hand?
O child of mine, marvellously
Born of the shadow of God, can this
Be for no great design of His
Who sits upon the flaming sun
And sets His feet upon the sea?
If I but knew what He decreed,
Before this body of mine was made
To be the mother of His Son,
Then were I satisfied indeed;
But now the angels come no more,
I wait and dream and am afraid.
[There is a knocking at the door, and JOSEPH awakens.]
JOSEPH
There is a knocking at the door,
[He opens the door; the THREE SHEPHERDS come in .]
FIRST SHEPHERD
Sir, if a newborn child be here
That in a manger lies,
We pray you that you let us near
To see him with our eyes.
JOSEPH
Good shepherds, it is early morn;!
But come; his mother wakes; come in;
There was no housing in the inn;
Beside a manger he was born,
And there in swaddling clothes he lies.
SECOND SHEPHERD
O brother shepherds, we have found
The Saviour as they said;
Let us kneel down upon the ground
And pray about his bed.
[The SHEPHERDS kneel.]
MARY
Shepherds, good shepherds, tell me why
You come about the break of day,
And kneel before my child, and pray
As if the stable where we lie
Were holy, or the Lord were nigh.
[The SHEPHERDS rise.]
THIRD SHEPHERD
We shepherds watched our flocks by night,
And lo, an angel made
A glory of exceeding light,
And we were sore afraid.
Then said the angel: Shepherds all,
Fear not; I bring from heaven
Good tidings of great joy, which shall
Be to all people given.
For unto you is born this day
A Saviour, and His name
Is Christ the Lord: go ye your way
With haste to Bethlehem.
There, wrapped in swaddling clothes He lies,
A manger for His sleep.
There was a singing in the skies,
And we forgot our sheep.
MARY
O shepherds, kneel if ye will kneel;
I know not what these tidings be,
But my heart kneels, even as ye.
Then go your way, and may the peace
Of God be on us all.
[The SHEPHERDS one after another bow before the Child, and go out.]
I feel
The wonder growing in my side.
JOSEPH
Mary, what tidings, then, are these,
That have but come to shepherd folk,
Poor men that know not anything?
Think you it was God's angel spoke?
Shall these find God out, if He hide
His will from Herod, who is King?
MARY
That which God wills He wills; if He
Have need of such a messenger,
Then would He send to us a King.
[There is a knocking at the door and the THREE KINGS come in.]
GASPAR
Gate of light, window of the sky,
And mother of the dawn, I bring
A tribute of Arabian myrrh
Out of the fragrant East, where I
Talk with the stars, and am a King.
[He gives myrrh]
MELCHIOR
Garden of spices, lily of fire,
Flame of sweet smoke, I am a King,
And for your heavenly child I bring
The East's whole odours that enfold
The earth for a burnt offering.
[He gives frankincense.]
BALTHASAR.
I am a King, and African;
I bring, out of the dark earth, gold,
Which is the light of my desire.
Our gold and myrrh and frankincense
Take, Mother of the King of Man.
[ He gives gold.]
JOSEPH
My lords, we are but humble men.
MARY
O Kings, I am your handmaiden.
Have ye met shepherds going hence
Into the valley to their fold?
GASPAR
The angel shepherd of a star
While we in paths of heaven trod
Called to us in the East afar
And led our feet to Bethlehem:
The shepherd of the flock of God.
MARY
Have the stars speech, that they can bring
Your feet to this poor manger-bed?
MELCHIOR
The stars are wise: we talk with them;
A star spoke out of heaven, and said:
"Follow, and I will bring you where
A King, who is the King of Kings,
Has built His throne"; His throne we see.
MARY
Where is this throne? and where is He?
BALTHASAR
This is the King of Kings, He lies
Within a lowly manger-bed,
Whose name was written in the skies;
Bow down before the King of Kings,
For we have seen the face of Him
Before whose face the burning eyes
Of the flame-hearted stars grow dim,
Veiling with unastonished wings
Their faces from the face of Him
Whose name was written in the skies.
[The THREE KINGS kneel before the Child, and go out.]
JOSEPH
Mary, the child shall be a king.
[He goes aside.]
MARY
Blessed among all women, yea,
I have been chosen for this thing.
Now I have waited long enough,
I do not hope nor am afraid,
I do not look upon the way,
I have been chosen by God's love.
Now is this body, that was made
Of sinful and of mortal clay,
In the warm love of God arrayed,
And I am His, and He is mine;
And now I know that I have known
God, all of God, and God alone,
And that the Son of God must be
As God is, human yet divine,
God in the Godhead, man in me.
O, when I hold my little child
Against: my heart and stoop to see
If He has waked from sleep and smiled,
I carry an immortal load;
My child, no less my child to me
Because I know my child is God,
