IN THE BETHLEHEM STABLE by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Dec 23, 1886

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 49.

IN THE BETHLEHEM STABLE.

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

AND cradled there in the scented hay, In the air made sweet by the breath of kine, The little child in the manger lay, The child that would be king one day Of a kingdom not human, but divine.

His mother, Mary of Nazareth, Sat watching beside his place of rest, Watching the even flow of his breath, For the joy of life and the terror of death, Were mingled together in her breast.

And the mother wondered and bowed her head, And sat as still as a statue of stone; Her heart was troubled, yet comforted, Remembering what the angel had said Of an endless reign and of David's throne. —H. W. Longfellow.