There, shel­tered from the wolves and cold,
Dear lit­tle lambs with­in the fold,
Are watched with more than shep­herd’s care,
No harm be­falls the weak­est there.
Sweet dar­ling on thy mo­ther’s knee,
Sleeping as sleeps a wave at sea.
Rocked on the bil­lows of her breast,
Thy sleep em­blems thy fu­ture rest.

There is an an­gel in the room,
Whose pre­sence, like the star­ry bloom
Of Hea­ven, ra­di­ates the light,
As though the sun arose at night.
That an­gel whis­pered to the child,
And then the lit­tle che­rub smiled,
It told the sin­less babe to fly
To realms of beau­ty in the sky.

The angel van­ished, and a cloud
Came with a cof­fin and a shroud,
But Hea­ven, re­flect­ed in a tear,
Displayed a white wing ho­ver­ing near.
So let us live that we may all
Find soft wings on our shoul­ders fall;
There’s room enough for all above,
For Hea­ven is vast as bound­less love.