Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.
Isaac Watts. 16741748435. A Cradle Hymn
HUSH! my dear, lie still and slumber, | |
Holy angels guard thy bed! | |
Heavenly blessings without number | |
Gently falling on thy head. | |
Sleep, my babe; thy food and raiment, | 5 |
House and home, thy friends provide; | |
All without thy care or payment: | |
All thy wants are well supplied. | |
How much better thou’rt attended | |
Than the Son of God could be, | 10 |
When from heaven He descended | |
And became a child like thee! | |
Soft and easy is thy cradle: | |
Coarse and hard thy Saviour lay, | |
When His birthplace was a stable | 15 |
And His softest bed was hay. | |
Blessèd babe! what glorious features— | |
Spotless fair, divinely bright! | |
Must He dwell with brutal creatures? | |
How could angels bear the sight? | 20 |
Was there nothing but a manger | |
Cursèd sinners could afford | |
To receive the heavenly stranger? | |
Did they thus affront their Lord? | |
Soft, my child: I did not chide thee, | 25 |
Though my song might sound too hard; | |
‘Tis thy mother sits beside thee, | |
And her arms shall be thy guard. | |
Yet to read the shameful story | |
How the Jews abused their King, | 30 |
How they served the Lord of Glory, | |
Makes me angry while I sing. | |
See the kinder shepherds round Him, | |
Telling wonders from the sky! | |
Where they sought Him, there they found Him, | 35 |
With His Virgin mother by. | |
See the lovely babe a-dressing; | |
Lovely infant, how He smiled! | |
When He wept, the mother’s blessing | |
Soothed and hush’d the holy child. | 40 |
Lo, He slumbers in His manger, | |
Where the hornèd oxen fed: | |
Peace, my darling; here ‘s no danger, | |
Here ‘s no ox anear thy bed. | |
‘Twas to save thee, child, from dying, | 45 |
Save my dear from burning flame, | |
Bitter groans and endless crying, | |
That thy blest Redeemer came. | |
May’st thou live to know and fear Him, | |
Trust and love Him all thy days; | 50 |
Then go dwell for ever near Him, | |
See His face, and sing His praise! |