The shepherds have come from the hills to adore
The Babe in the manger, my God;
Mary and Joseph welcome them there;
Worship, O soul, thy God!
But I alone may not come near
The Babe in the manger, my God;
Weep for thy sins, O heart, and plead
With Mary the mother of God.
May I not come, oh, just to the door,
To see the Babe, my God;
There will I stop and kneel and adore,
And weep for my sins, O God!
But Mary smiles, and rising up,
In her arms the Babe, my God,
She comes to the door and bends her down,
With the Babe in her arms, my God!
Her sinless arms in my sinful arms
Place the Babe, my God;
"He has come to take thy sins away;"
Break, O heart, for thy God!
THE TOYS
By Coventry Patmore
My little son, who look'd from thoughtful eyes
And mov'd and spoke in quiet grown-up wise,
Having my law the seventh time disobey'd,
I struck him, and dismiss'd
With hard words and unkiss'd,
