PREFACE.
CONTENTS.
YULE TIDE.
THE MADONNA DI SAN SISTO. [1]
BETHLEHEM GATE.
S. JOSEPH.
A CRADLE SONG.
A CRADLED CHILD.
AN EMPTY CRADLE.
NEW YEAR'S EVE.
THE VICTIM.
THE DAYSMAN.
THE PHYSICIAN.
THE POET.
THREE SISTERS. [5]
A CHRISTMAS PUZZLE.
FOUR EPIPHANIES. [6] I. The Pilgrim-Kings their King have
THE CHILDREN'S EUCHARIST.
THE GOSPEL SONGS. [7] I. BENEDICTUS. Can priestly lips, long
NOTES. Note A.
A CHRISTMAS FAGGOT
THAT AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER· THAT AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW
TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER·
A CHRISTMAS FAGGOT
BY
ALFRED GURNEY, M.A.
VICAR OF S. BARNABAS', PIMLICO
AUTHOR OF 'THE VISION OF THE EUCHARIST AND OTHER POEMS' ETC.
'The Darling of the world is come,
And fit it is we finde a roome
To welcome Him. The nobler part
Of all the house here is the heart,
Which we will give Him, and bequeath
This hollie and this ivie wreath
To do Him honour who's our King,
The Lord of all this revelling'
Herrick, A Christmas Carol
LONDON
KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, & CO., 1 PATERNOSTER SQUARE
1884
(The rights of translation and of reproduction are reserved)
TO
MY GODCHILDREN
ETHEL, ALBINIA,
CYRIL, BASIL,
BERTRAM, WILFRID,
LOUISE, HELEN,
ARTHUR.
When the Angel of the waters
With a gold and silver wing
Gently stirred the wave baptismal,
Heard ye not their carolling
Who of old to Eastern shepherds
Heralded their King?
To the shepherds of His people
Still those angel-voices tell
How God's river feeds the fountain
Opened by Emmanuel,
Yielding the baptismal waters
Of salvation's well.
Children, you have passed those waters,
Love-begotten from the dead;
Will you make a gallant promise
When my verses you have read—
'We will trace life's lovely river
To the Fountain-head'?
Loch Leven: 1884.
