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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AT THE MANGER by JOHN BANISTER TABB

First Line: WHEN FIRST HER CHRISTMAS WATCH TO KEEP
Last Line: HE SAW HIS MOTHER'S FACE.
Subject(s): CHRISTMAS; NATIVITY, THE;
When first her Christmas watch to keep
Came down the silent angel, Sleep,
With snowy sandals shod,
Beholding what His mother's hands
Had wrought, with softer swaddling-bands
She swathed the Son of God.

Then, skilled in mysteries of night,
With tender visions of delight
She wreathed His resting place,
Till wakened by a warmer glow
Than heaven itself had yet to show,
He saw His mother's face.



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