EPHERDS WATCHED THEIR FLOCKS.

While shepherds watched their flocks by night,
All seated on the ground.
The angel of the Lord came down,
And glory shone around,
And glory shone around.

"Fear not," said he,--for mighty dread
Had seized their troubled mind,
"Glad tidings of great joy I bring,
To you and all mankind,
To you and all mankind."

"To you in David's town this day,
Is born of David's line,
The Saviour, who is Christ, the Lord,
And this shall be the sign,
And this shall be the sign."

"The heav'nly babe you there shall find
To human view displayed,
All meanly wrapped in swathing bands,
And in a manger laid,
And in a manger laid."

Thus spake the seraph--and forthwith
Appeared a shining throng
Of angels, praising God, who thus
Addressed their joyful song,
Addressed their joyful song:--

"All glory be to God on high,
And to the earth be peace;
Good will henceforth, from heav'n to men,
Begin and never cease,
Begin and never cease."

_The_ PROLOGUE _appears before the curtains and speaks._

PROLOGUE.

There's scarlet holly on the streets, and silver mistletoe;
The surging, jeweled, ragged crowds forever come and go.
And here a silken woman laughs, and there a beggar asks--
And, oh, the faces, tense of lip, like mad and mocking masks.
Who thinks of Bethlehem today, and one lone winter night?
Who knows that in a manger-bed there breathed a Child of Light?

There's fragrant scent of evergreen upon the chilling air;
There's tinsel tawdriness revealed beneath the sunlight's glare;
There's Want and Plenty, Greed and Pride--a hundred thousand souls,
And, oh, the weary eyes of them, like dull and sullen coals.
Who knows the town of Bethlehem, once gleamed beneath the star,
Whose wondrous light the shepherds saw watching their flocks afar?

And yet above the city streets, above the noise and whir,
There seems to come a fragrant breath of frankincense and myrrh.
I saw a woman, bent and wan, and on her face a light
The look that Mary might have worn that other Christmas night.
And as the little children passed, and one lad turned and smiled,
I saw within his wistful eyes the spirit of the Child.

--_Caroline Reynol