From: user3274@newsgrouper.org.invalid   
      
   nancygene.andjayme@gmail-dot-com.no-spam.invalid (NancyGene) posted:   
   >   
   > The Three Kings   
   > By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1874)   
   >   
   > Three Kings came riding from far away,   
   > Melchior and Gaspar and Baltasar;   
   > Three Wise Men out of the East were they,   
   > And they travelled by night and they slept by day,   
   > For their guide was a beautiful, wonderful star.   
   >   
   > The star was so beautiful, large and clear,   
   > That all the other stars of the sky   
   > Became a white mist in the atmosphere,   
   > And by this they knew that the coming was near   
   > Of the Prince foretold in the prophecy.   
   >   
   > Three caskets they bore on their saddle-bows,   
   > Three caskets of gold with golden keys;   
   > Their robes were of crimson silk with rows   
   > Of bells and pomegranates and furbelows,   
   > Their turbans like blossoming almond-trees.   
   >   
   > And so the Three Kings rode into the West,   
   > Through the dusk of the night, over hill and dell,   
   > And sometimes they nodded with beard on breast,   
   > And sometimes talked, as they paused to rest,   
   > With the people they met at some wayside well.   
   >   
   > “Of the child that is born,” said Baltasar,   
   > “Good people, I pray you, tell us the news;   
   > For we in the East have seen his star,   
   > And have ridden fast, and have ridden far,   
   > To find and worship the King of the Jews.”   
   >   
   > And the people answered, “You ask in vain;   
   > We know of no King but Herod the Great!”   
   > They thought the Wise Men were men insane,   
   > As they spurred their horses across the plain,   
   > Like riders in haste, who cannot wait.   
   >   
   > And when they came to Jerusalem,   
   > Herod the Great, who had heard this thing,   
   > Sent for the Wise Men and questioned them;   
   > And said, “Go down unto Bethlehem,   
   > And bring me tidings of this new king.”   
   >   
   > So they rode away; and the star stood still,   
   > The only one in the grey of morn;   
   > Yes, it stopped"it stood still of its own free will,   
   > Right over Bethlehem on the hill,   
   > The city of David, where Christ was born.   
   >   
   > And the Three Kings rode through the gate and the guard,   
   > Through the silent street, till their horses turned   
   > And neighed as they entered the great inn-yard;   
   > But the windows were closed, and the doors were barred,   
   > And only a light in the stable burned.   
   >   
   > And cradled there in the scented hay,   
   > In the air made sweet by the breath of kine,   
   > The little child in the manger lay,   
   > The child, that would be king one day   
   > Of a kingdom not human, but divine.   
   >   
   > His mother Mary of Nazareth   
   > Sat watching beside his place of rest,   
   > Watching the even flow of his breath,   
   > For the joy of life and the terror of death   
   > Were mingled together in her breast.   
   >   
   > They laid their offerings at his feet:   
   > The gold was their tribute to a King,   
   > The frankincense, with its odor sweet,   
   > Was for the Priest, the Paraclete,   
   > The myrrh for the body’s burying.   
   >   
   > And the mother wondered and bowed her head,   
   > And sat as still as a statue of stone,   
   > Her heart was troubled yet comforted,   
   > Remembering what the Angel had said   
   > Of an endless reign and of David’s throne.   
   >   
   > Then the Kings rode out of the city gate,   
   > With a clatter of hoofs in proud array;   
   > But they went not back to Herod the Great,   
   > For they knew his malice and feared his hate,   
   > And returned to their homes by another way.   
   >   
   > ------   
   >   
   > Henry asked us to post this to AAPC for him.  He says he may join the group   
   soon.   
      
   CC: CujoDeSockpuppet:   
      
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