101 The Cherry-Tree Carol
i
I
Joseph was an old man,
And an old man was he,
When he wedded Mary
In the land of Galilee.
II
Joseph and Mary walk’d
Through an orchard good,
Where was cherries and berries
So red as any blood.
III
Joseph and Mary walk’d
Through an orchard green,
Where was berries and cherries
As thick as might be seen.
IV
O then bespoke Mary,
So meek and so mild,
‘Pluck me one cherry, Joseph,
For I am with child.’
V
O then bespoke Joseph
With words so unkind,
‘Let him pluck thee a cherry
That brought thee with child.’
VI
O then bespoke the babe
Within his mother’s womb,
‘Bow down then the tallest tree
For my mother to have some.’
VII
Then bow’d down the highest tree
Unto his mother’s hand:
Then she cried, ‘See, Joseph,
I have cherries at command!’
VIII
O then bespake Joseph—
‘I have done Mary wrong;
But cheer up, my dearest,
And be not cast down.
IX
‘O eat your cherries, Mary,
O eat your cherries now;
O eat your cherries, Mary,
That grow upon the bough.’
X
Then Mary pluck’d a cherry
As red as the blood;
Then Mary went home
With her heavy load.
ii
XI
As Joseph was a-walking,
He heard an angel sing:
‘This night shall be born
Our heavenly King.
XII
‘He neither shall be born
In housen nor in hall,
Nor in the place612 of Paradise,
But in an ox’s stall.
XIII
‘He neither shall be clothèd
In purple nor in pall613,
But all in fair linen,
As were babies all.
XIV
‘He neither shall be rock’d
In silver nor in gold,
But in a wooden cradle
That rocks on the mould.
XV
‘He neither shall be christen’d
In white wine nor red,
But with fair spring water
With which we were christenèd.
iii
XVI
Then Mary took her young son
And set him on her knee;
‘I pray thee now, dear child,
Tell how this world shall be.’—
XVII
‘O I shall be as dead, mother,
As the stones in the wall;
O the stones in the street, mother,
Shall mourn for me all.
XVIII
’And upon a Wednesday
My vow I will make,
And upon Good Friday
My death I will take.
XIX
‘Upon Easter-day, mother,
My uprising shall be;
O the sun and the moon, mother,
Shall both rise with me!’
Footnotes
612 place = palace.
613 pall = fine cloth.