Henry Charles Beeching, ed. (1859–1919). Lyra Sacra: A Book of Religious Verse. 1903.
AnonymousA Royal Guest
YET if his majesty our sovereign lord | |
Should of his own accord | |
Friendly himself invite, | |
And say “I’ll be your guest to-morrow night,” | |
How should we stir ourselves, call and command | 5 |
All hands to work!” Let no man idle stand. | |
“Set me fine Spanish tables in the hall, | |
See they be fitted all; | |
Let there be room to eat, | |
And order taken that there want no meat. | 10 |
See every sconce and candlestick made bright, | |
That without tapers they may give a light. | |
“Look to the presence: are the carpets spread, | |
The dais o’er the head, | |
The cushions in the chairs, | 15 |
And all the candles lighted on the stairs? | |
Perfume the chambers, and in any case | |
Let each man give attendance in his place.” | |
Thus if the king were coming would we do, | |
And ’twere good reason too; | 20 |
For ’tis a duteous thing | |
To show all honour to an earthly king, | |
And after all our travail and our cost, | |
So he be pleased, to think no labour lost. | |
But at the coming of the King of Heaven | 25 |
All’s set at six and seven: | |
We wallow in our sin, | |
Christ cannot find a chamber in the inn. | |
We entertain Him always like a stranger, | |
And as at first still lodge Him in the manger. | 30 |