09. Ninth Carol

It was quiet on the mountains,

All the world was wrapped in sleep,

As three shepherds in the starlight

Guarded lovingly their sheep:

When an angel came amongst them

In a brilliant blinding light,

Told them news of Baby Jesus

On that lovely Christmas night.

 

Stars were shining on the desert

Where three Monarchs sleeping lay,

But one star shone out above them,

Wakened them with light of day;

On they travelled by its gleaming,

And their feet by it were led

Till they came unto a stable

Where they saw a manger bed.

 

There was Mary, there was Joseph,

There was Jesus fast asleep;

There the oxen of the stable,

There the herdsmen of the sheep;

There the Kings with praise were kneeling

All united in their love,

As the world one day will gather

In the praise of God above.

 

Christmas Day 1942.