Poems (Hazlett-Bevis)/A Christmas Anthem

by Sophia Courtoulde Hazlett-Bevis

A Christmas Anthem.

Hark! all through the Heavens resounding,
 All through the Earth, far and near,
Come the myriad of voices abounding
 In sweetness as silver bells clear.
The angels in beauty, rejoicing,
 Sing gladly this gift of the Son,
While children below, too, are voicing
 The "Light of the world," so begun.

Hallelujah! Shout loudly the anthem stem,
 Away to the billowy sea,
Where the waves fling it back from the ocean's
 And mountains return it to thee;
Christ is born!—i-s—b-o-r-n , how it echoes
 And floats on the air evermore,
In rythms of beauty its melody flows,
 As it reaches from shore unto shore.

The shepherds watch still, all so lowly,
 Their flocks, but they fear not's of old,
For the grace of His presence so holy,
 With the halo of Heaven's own gold,
Comes like dew to the parched grasses,
 And it lifts up the floweret's head,
So not one, in His mercy, He passes
 As He comes in the Father's stead.

The star in the East shines as brightly
 As the dawn of that morn long ago,
When the babe in the manger, so sightly,
 With Mary, His mother, lay low;
The air is as full of glad whispers,
 Of "peace and good will unto men."
As memory's bells are of vespers,
 Still chanting forever "Amen."