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.