Arthur Quiller-Couch, comp. The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse. 1922.
The Flight into EgyptHenry Wadsworth Longfellow (18071882)
(Here shall J
M
O’erhanging branches of the trees,
Where robins chant their litanies
And canticles of joy.
Joseph.My saddle-girths have given way
With trudging through the heat to-day;
To you I think it is but play
To ride and hold the boy.
Mary.Hark! how the robins shout and sing,
As if to hail their infant King!
I will alight at yonder spring
To wash his little coat.
Joseph.And I will hobble well the ass,
Lest, being loose upon the grass,
He should escape; for, by the mass,
He ’s nimble as a goat.
For men are sleeping in the shade;
I fear that we shall be waylaid,
And robb’d and beaten sore!
Joseph.I pray you, Sirs, let go your hold!
You see that I am weak and old,
Of wealth I have no store.
Dumachus.Give up your money!
Titus.Prithee cease.
Let these good people go in peace.
Dumachus.First let them pay for their release,
And then go on their way.
Titus.These forty groats I give in fee,
If thou wilt only silent be.
Mary.May God be merciful to thee,
Upon the Judgement Day!
Jesus.When thirty years shall have gone by,
I at Jerusalem shall die,
By Jewish hands exalted high
On the accursèd tree.
Then on my right and my left side,
These thieves shall both be crucified,
And Titus thenceforth shall abide
In paradise with me.