Ye shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
Luke 2:12
Words: Amelia Y. Cole, 1896.
Music: Song of Christmas Pluma M. Brown, 1896 (🔊 pdf nwc).
If you know where to get a good photo of Cole or Brown (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
Children, lo, the days are here
Of the joyous Christmas cheer!
Listen, how each sweet chime swells
From the swiftly clashing bells;
Bells that peal along the morn
Of the day when Christ was born.
He, the Life, the Truth, the Way,
Once in Bethlehem’s manger lay.
Near the herdsmen and their kine—
He, the heav’nly, the divine;
Showing that the lowliest heart
May with Him have lot and part.
Guided by His sacred star,
Came the wise men from afar;
Royal gifts their hands unfold,
Myrrh and frankincense and gold;
Glorious grew that stable dim,
When they knelt and worshiped Him.
While your hearts are filled with love,
This divinest tale above,
There are some in lonely ways,
In these happy Christmas days,
Earthly shadows round them fall,
Yet the Father loves them all.
Tell them in your sweetest song
To the Father you belong;
Love is waiting at your door,
Waiting now and evermore;
Still for you the star doth glow,
Flaming over night and snow.
In the beauty of its ray
Clouds and darkness flee away;
Love and joy are in its light,
Fadeless, deathless, ever bright;
Let no fear your hearts appall;
God, the Father, loveth all.