Oi saw three ships a-sailin' there—
A sailin' there, a-sailin' there,
Jesu, Mary, and Joseph they bare
On Christ's Sunday at morn.
A small boy curled up; like the birds, under the roof stirred uneasily in his sleep and then slowly woke. He mooved, and gave a little cry because his back hurt him, then he remembered everything. The voices came up to him from the garden:
Joseph did whistle and Mary did sing,
Mary did sing, Mary did sing.
And all the hells on earth did ring
For joy our Lord was horn,
O they sail'd in to Bethlehem,
To Bethlehem, to Bethlehem;
Saint Michael was the steersman.
Saint John sate in the horn.
And all the hells on earth did ring,
On earth did ring, on earth did ring;
“Welcome he thou Heaven's King,
On Christ's Sunday at morn,”
He got slowly out of bed and went to the window. The light was coming in broad bands from the East and he could hear the birds in the ivy. The four black figures stood out against the white shadowy garden and their heads were bent together. He opened his window, and the fresh morning air swept about his face.
He could hear the whispers of the singers as they chose another carol and suddenly above the dark iron gates of the garden appeared the broad red face of the sun.
