Joseph And Mary

JOSEPH     Mary, art thou the little maid     Who plucked me flowers in Spring?     I know thee not: I feel afraid:     Thou'rt strange this evening.     A sweet and rustic girl I won     What time the woods were green;     No woman with deep eyes that shone,     And the pale brows of a Queen.     MARY (inattentive to his words.)     A stranger came with feet of flame     And told me this strange thing, -     For all I was a village maid     My son should be a King.     JOSEPH     A King, dear wife. Who ever knew     Of Kings in stables born!     MARY     Do you hear, in the dark and starlit blue     The clarion and the horn?     JOSEPH     Mary, alas, lest grief and joy     Have sent thy wits astray;     But let me look on this my boy,     And take the wraps away.     MARY     Behold the lad.     JOSEPH     I dare not gaze:     Light streams from every limb.     MARY     The winter sun has stored his rays,     And passed the fire to him.     Look Eastward, look! I hear a sound.     O Joseph, what do you see?     JOSEPH     The snow lies quiet on the ground     And glistens on the tree;     The sky is bright with a star's great light,     And clearly I behold     Three Kings descending yonder hill,     Whose crowns are crowns of gold.     O Mary, what do you hear and see     With your brow toward the West?     MARY     The snow lies glistening on the tree     And silent on Earth's breast;     And strong and tall, with lifted eyes     Seven shepherds walk this way,     And angels breaking from the skies     Dance, and sing hymns, and pray.     JOSEPH     I wonder much at these bright Kings;     The shepherds I despise.     MARY     You know not what a shepherd sings,     Nor see his shining eyes.