Nights’ dark mantle hugs the globe
Winter moonlight softly probes,
Filters through the evergreens,
Bathing fields in light serene

Frosted berries on silent trees
Dress branches now who shed their leaves,
Shimmering stars shine bright and clear,
Celestial witness through the years

For many years ago in Time,
Across the Earth where Israel’s vine
Grows rich and ripe near Bethlehem,
Stars lit the way of ancient men

Fall moonlight seeped through olive groves
Illuminated dusty roads,
Poured her beams on fig tree bare,
On weathered hills and stable there

Heard the call of goat and sheep,
A dog’s strong bark, a lamb’s faint bleat,
Carried o’er Judean hills,
Where wood smoke warmed the night air’s chill

Stars and planets’ unchanging path
Draped like heaven’s glittering scarf,
Shone then, as now, their courses set,
Beheld a birth that paid man’s debt

Silent witnesses above
Joined the angel song in love,
Spectators to a Saviours’ birth,
Saw God descend to dwell on Earth!

Tiny infant, man of peace
Sleeping there among the beasts,
Eyes shut tight, that had yet seen
The birth of worlds, Creations dream!

The Voice who spoke when worlds were formed,
Conversed with Patriarchs at dawn,
Now softly sighs in dusk’s dim light,
First tender breaths this earthly night

Fingers that would break the Bread,
Bless the crowds, see them fed,
The hands of Him who wrote the Law,
Now clasped so tight within the straw

Feet that walked with Abraham,
Belonging to the great “I AM,”
Now cupped within his Mother’s palm,
Wrapped tight within the swaddling yarn

Eyes that saw the multitudes,
Wept for men, their hearts perused,
Now gently probe his new abode,
See shepherds from the starlit road

Ears that hear the Father’s heart,
The prayers of man, where truth imparts,
Heard angel song across the hills,
While he slumbered there so still

Saints of old and loved ones gone
Joined with the angels in their song,
Heaven’s hosts thus harmonized,
Poured forth their hymn with sweet reprise

Starry heavens, unbound by Time
Proclaimed God’s glory, love divine
Still filled with heavenly hosts on high,
Unseen by Man’s closed mortal eye!

For worship still surrounds the earth
For those who seek eternal worth,
Men today still hear the sound,
Of angel song the world around!

When steeple bells or choirs sing
Listen for the angel’s wings!
Hear the praise that echoes still ,
From east to west, the cosmos fills!

Come worship as did men of old
Believe, as those who were first told,
A Saviour comes to you this night,
Heaven’s glorious King of Light!

For many years ago in Time,
Across the Earth where Israel’s vine
Grows rich and ripe near Bethlehem,
Salvation came. Rejoice! Amen.


© Anne Herridge 2012

www.anneherridge.ca