The Three Kings

6The star was so beautiful, large and clear,

7That all the other stars of the sky

8Became a white mist in the atmosphere;

9And by this they knew that the coming was near

10Of the Prince foretold in the prophecy.

11Three caskets they bore on their saddle-bows,

12Three caskets of gold with golden keys;

13Their robes were of crimson silk, with rows

14Of bells and pomegranates and furbelows,

15Their turbans like blossoming almond-trees.

16And so the Three Kings rode into the West,

17Through the dusk of night over hill and dell,

18And sometimes they nodded with beard on breast,

19And sometimes talked, as they paused to rest,

20With the people they met at some wayside well.

21"Of the child that is born," said Baltasar,

22"Good people, I pray you, tell us the news;

23For we in the East have seen his star,

24And have ridden fast, and have ridden far,

25To find and worship the King of the Jews."

26And the people answered, "You ask in vain;

27We know of no king but Herod the Great!"

28They thought the Wise Men were men insane,

29As they spurred their horses across the plain

30Like riders in haste who cannot wait.

31And when they came to Jerusalem,

32Herod the Great, who had heard this thing,

33Sent for the Wise Men and questioned them;

34And said, "Go down unto Bethlehem,

35And bring me tidings of this new king."

36So they rode away, and the star stood still,

37The only one in the gray of morn;

38Yes, it stopped, it stood still of its own free will,

39Right over Bethlehem on the hill,

40The city of David where Christ was born.

41And the Three Kings rode through the gate and the guard,

42Through the silent street, till their horses turned

43And neighed as they entered the great inn-yard;

44But the windows were closed, and the doors were barred,

45And only a light in the stable burned.

46And cradled there in the scented hay,

47In the air made sweet by the breath of kine,

48The little child in the manger lay,

49The Child that would be King one day

50Of a kingdom not human, but divine.

51His mother, Mary of Nazareth,

52Sat watching beside his place of rest,

53Watching the even flow of his breath,

54For the joy of life and the terror of death

55Were mingled together in her breast.

56They laid their offerings at his feet:

57The gold was their tribute to a King;

58The frankincense, with its odor sweet,

59Was for the Priest, the Paraclete;

60The myrrh for the body's burying.

61And the mother wondered and bowed her head,

62And sat as still as a statue of stone;

63Her heart was troubled yet comforted,

64Remembering what the angel had said

65Of an endless reign and of David's throne.

66Then the Kings rode out of the city gate,

67With a clatter of hoofs in proud array;

68But they went not back to Herod the Great,

69For they knew his malice and feared his hate,

70And returned to their homes by another way.