A Christmas Carol

Aubrey de Vere

They leave the land of gems and gold,

The shining portals of the East;

For Him, the woman’s Seed foretold,

They leave the revel and the feast.

To earth their sceptres they have cast,

And crowns by kings ancestral worn;

They track the lonely Syrian waste;

They kneel before the Babe new born.

O happy eyes that saw Him first;

O happy lips that kissed His feet:

Earth slakes at last her ancient thirst;

With Eden’s joy her pulses beat.

True kings are those who thus forsake

Their kingdoms for the Eternal King;

Serpent, her foot is on thy neck;

Herod, thou writhest, but canst not sting.

He, He is King, and He alone

Who lifts that infant hand to bless;

Who makes His mother’s knee His throne,

Yet rules the starry wilderness.