Chapter IV

“I want the master,”
A voice cried in the court. “An order
From Caesar, from the lord himself,
Commands you go at once this hour
For a great census in the city
Of Bethlehem. Set forth at once.”
That stern commanding voice is gone;
The echo rings above the wood.
So Mary went at once to bake
Some cakes; and then without a word
She put them in a little basket;
Without a word she followed Joseph
To Bethlehem.
“O holy power,
Protect me now, my God most dear,”
That’s all she said. And so they go.
Both of them are depressed and sad.
Poor as they are--they drive before them
The goat and with it its young kid,
For there’s no one to care for them,
And God might send to her the baby
Upon the journey and the milk
Would be a godsend to the mother.
The animals stray onward feeding
Along the way and side by side
The man and woman walk behind them.
And they begin to speak just as
They will but softly.
Joseph said:
“The high priest Simeon said once
To me a word prophetic, true.
The holy law of Abraham
And Moses now the pious Essenes
Renew again in all its power;
And I shall never die--he told me,--
Until I see myself Messiah.
O Mary, do you hear my words,
Messiah comes.”
“Nay, he has come,
Ourselves we have Messiah seen.”
Sweet Mary said.
Then Joseph looked
Within the basket, found a cake.
He gave it to her. “Take this, child!
Be strong for what is coming now!
We are not near to Bethlehem,
And I will rest for I am weary.”
So they sat down beside the road
To rest.
Then while they’re sitting there,
The righteous sun sank quickly down
And hid itself behind the hill.
It sank to rest and darkness came
At once--and then a miracle.
No one had ever heard or seen
Of such a marvel.
Joseph trembled
For from the east a blazing comet
Rose over Bethlehem far off.
The comet seemed to be of fire
And lighted all the steppe and mountains.
But Mary did not rise from off
The road. ’Twas then she bore her son,
That child who by his wondrous power
Saved all of us from prison cruel
And as a saint was crucified
For us, the evil and the sinful!
Not far away along the road
The shepherds saw the miracle
And they gave heed.
The wretched mother
Together with the child they took
And carried them into their cave
And there the wretched shepherds gave
To him the name Emmanuel.

By sunrise in the market place
Of Bethlehem the people gathered
And whispered the exciting news
That something strange would happen now
In all Judea. They passed along
The news in quiet tones. “O people,”
A shepherd came and shouted out,
“The words of Jeremiah and
Isaiah now are true, are true!
Among us shepherds has been born
Messiah yesterday.”
It spread
Throughout the whole of Bethlehem.
“Messiah!... Jesus!... Hail!... Hosanna!”
The people scattered.