Long Ago

<SPAN name="startofbook"></SPAN> <h3>LONG AGO.</h3> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">In the bleak mid-winter<br/></span> <span class="i1">Frosty wind made moan,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Earth stood hard as iron,<br/></span> <span class="i1">Water like a stone;<br/></span> <span class="i0">Snow had fallen, snow on snow,<br/></span> <span class="i1">Snow on snow,<br/></span> <span class="i0">In the bleak mid-winter<br/></span> <span class="i1">Long ago.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Our God, heaven cannot hold Him,<br/></span> <span class="i1">Nor earth sustain;<br/></span> <span class="i0">Heaven and earth shall flee away<br/></span> <span class="i1">When He comes to reign:<br/></span> <span class="i0">In the bleak mid-winter<br/></span> <span class="i1">A stable-place sufficed<br/></span> <span class="i0">The Lord God Almighty,<br/></span> <span class="i1">Jesus Christ.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Enough for Him whom cherubim<br/></span> <span class="i1">Worship night and day,<br/></span> <span class="i0">A breastful of milk<br/></span> <span class="i1">And a mangerful of hay;<br/></span> <span class="i0">Enough for Him whom angels<br/></span> <span class="i1">Fall down before,<br/></span> <span class="i0">The ox and ass and camel<br/></span> <span class="i1">Which adore.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class='pagenum'><SPAN name="Page_90" id="Page_90"></SPAN></span> <span class="i0">Angels and archangels<br/></span> <span class="i1">May have gathered there,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Cherubim and seraphim<br/></span> <span class="i1">Thronged the air;<br/></span> <span class="i0">But only His mother,<br/></span> <span class="i1">In her maiden bliss,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Worshipped the Beloved<br/></span> <span class="i1">With a kiss.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">What can I give Him,<br/></span> <span class="i1">Poor as I am?<br/></span> <span class="i0">If I were a shepherd,<br/></span> <span class="i1">I would bring a lamb;<br/></span> <span class="i0">If I were a wise man,<br/></span> <span class="i1">I would do my part:<br/></span> <span class="i0">Yet what I can I give Him,<br/></span> <span class="i1">Give my heart.<br/></span></div> <p class="center"><i>Christina G. Rossetti.</i></p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />