‘The great God of heaven is come down to earth,
His mother a Virgin, and sinless his birth;
The Father eternal his Father alone:
He sleeps in the manger; he reigns on the throne:
‘Then let us adore him, and praise his great love:
To save us poor sinners he came from above.
‘A Babe on the breast of a Maiden he lies,
Yet sits with the Father on high in the skies;
Before him their faces the seraphim hide,
While Joseph stands waiting, unscared, by his side:
‘Lo! here is Emmanuel, here is the Child,
The Son that was promised to Mary so mild;
Whose power and dominion shall ever increase,
The Prince that shall rule o’er a kingdom of peace:
‘The Wonderful Counsellor, boundless in might,
The Father’s own image, the beam of his light;
Behold him now wearing the likeness of man,
Weak, helpless, and speechless, in measure a span:
‘O wonder of wonders, which none can unfold:
The Ancient of days is an hour or two old;
The Maker of all things is made of the earth,
Man is worshipped by angels, and God comes to birth:
‘Then let us adore him, and praise his great love:
To save us poor sinners he came from above.’
—Henry Ramsden Bramley (1833-1917)
