NATIVITY SONG
Reading edition
The beautiful mother is bending Low where her baby lies, Helpless and frail, for her tending; But she knows the glorious eyes. The mother smiles and rejoices While the baby laughs in the hay; She listens to heavenly voices: “The child shall be king, one day.” O dear little Christ in the manger, Let me make merry with thee. O King, in my hour of danger, Wilt thou be strong for me?
Adapted from the Latin of Jacopone da Todi by Sophie Jewett
From “The Poems of Sophie Jewett.” Included by permission of the Thomas Y. Crowell Company.