The
Wise Men from the East
(A
LITTLE BOY'S CHRISTMAS LESSON)
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WHY
were the Wise Men three,
Instead of five or seven?”
They had to match, you see,
The archangels in Heaven.
God sent them, sure and swift,
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By his
mysterious presage,
To bear the threefold gift
And take the threefold message.
Thus in their hands were seen
The gold of purest Beauty,
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The
myrrh of Truth all-clean,
The frankincense of Duty.
And thus they bore away
The loving heart’s great treasure,
And knowledge clear as day,
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| To be
our life’s new measure.
They went back to the East
To spread the news of gladness.
There one became a priest
To the new word of sadness;
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And one a workman, skilled
Beyond the old earth’s fashion;
And one a scholar, filled
With learning’s endless passion.
God sent them for a sign
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He would
not change nor alter
His good and fair design,
However man may falter.
He meant that, as He chose
His perfect plan and willed it,
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They
stood in place of those
Who elsewhere had fulfilled it;
Whoso would mark and reach
The height of man’s election,
Must still achieve and teach
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| The
triplicate perfection.
For since the world was made,
One thing was needed ever,
To keep man undismayed
Through failure and endeavor—
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A faultless trinity
Of body, mind, and spirit,
And each with its own three
Strong angels to be near it;
Strength to arise and go
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Wherever
dawn is breaking,
Poise like tides that flow,
Instinct for beauty-making;
Imagination bold
To cross the mystic border, |
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Reason
to seek and hold,
Judgement for law and order;
Joy that makes all things well,
Faith that is all-availing
Each terror to dispel,
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| And
Love, ah, Love unfailing.
These are the flaming Nine
Who walk the world unsleeping,
Sent forth by the Divine
With manhood in their keeping.
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These are the seraphs strong
His mighty soul had need of,
When He would right the wrong
And sorrow He took heed of.
And that, I think, is why
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The
Wise Men knelt before Him,
And put their kingdoms by
To serve Him and adore Him;
So that our Lord, unknown,
Should not be unattended,
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When
He was here alone
And poor and unbefriended;
That still He might have three
(Rather than five or seven)
To stand in their degree,
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| Like
archangels in Heaven. |
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