R. Crashaw
Come, we shepherds, whose blest sight
Hath met Love's noon in Nature's night;
Come, lift we up our loftier song,
And wake the Sun that lies too long.
Gloomy night embraced the place
Where the noble Infant lay:
The Babe look'd up, and show'd His face;
In spite of darkness, it was day: --
It was Thy day, Sweet! and did rise
Not from the East, but from Thine eyes.
We saw Thee in Thy balmy nest,
Young dawn of our eternal Day;
We saw Thine eyes break from their East,
And chase the trembling shades away:
We saw Thee, (and we blest the sight),
We saw Thee by Thine own sweet light.
Welcome, all wonders in one sight!
Eternity shut in a span!
Summer in Winter! Day in Night!
Heaven in Earth! and GOD in man!
Great Little One, Whose all-embracing birth,
Lifts Earth to Heaven, stoops Heaven to Earth.