Poem December 19, 1936 Issue

Judaean Song

LEETHA JOURNEY PROBST

The western sun went down in gold
That night in Palestine;
The woolly sheep slipped to their fold,
The softly moving kine
Dropped down behind their shelter bars
While shepherds watched beneath the stars.

From Nazareth to Bethlehem
Is long and far to go;
Though stars shine like a diadem,
The stony way is slow,
And apprehension fills the eyes
That search the dimming twilight skies.

Joseph and Mary climbed the road;
The ass slipped on the stones
But bore the woman as his load;
She spoke in quiet tones:
The light is dimming in the west
And shortly I must lie to rest.

The inn is filled; one cannot rest,
The passing travelers said;
For two the path ahead was blest—
They would be housed and fed.
For them night dropped unearthly fair,
And hymns wove through the evening air.

Across the hills of Galilee
Caroled a strange new song;
Paean of all eternity,
That earth had waited long.
It breathed from mountaintop to glen
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Oh, song beneath Judaean skies,
May all men voice your strain,
Until its message glorifies
Earth's utmost, far domain,
And men in one accord will sing,
Truth is the only perfect thing!

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