Advent to Candlemas (Vol. 2)
Symbols
- The Lord of salvation lay bloody and weak
As the wind raked the hillsides so barren and bleak;
The clouds in the night sky were lowering and grey:
A nail in the manger, a thorn in the hay.
- The cattle were restless, the shepherds unsure
As they thought it demeaning to worship the poor;
It was they, not the sheep, who were likely to stray:
A lamb all-a-blemish, the crowd run away.
- The purple-wrapped gifts of myrrh, incense and gold
Were the fruits of extortion and violence untold;
Did they visit the Saviour to pray or to prey?
A rent in the curtain, the king for a day.
- Yet she saw the star and the light in the sky
As the angelic choir praised the Lord God on high;
And her own special angel had promised to stay:
A rose in the desert, the stone rolled away.
