At Bethlehem
Come, we shepherds, whose blest sight
Hath met Love's noon in nature's night;
Come, lift we up our loftier song,
And wake the sun that lies too long.
Gloomy night embraced the place
Where the noble infant lay:
The Babe looked up and showed his face;
In spite of darkness, it was day:-
It was the Day, Sweet! and did rise
Not from the east, but from thine eyes.
We saw thee in thy balmy nest,
Young dawn of our eternal day;
We saw thine eyes break from their east
And chase the trembling shades away;
We saw thee (and we bless the sight),
We saw thee by thine own sweet light.
Welcome, all wonders in one sight!
Eternity shut in a span!
Summer in Winter! Day in night!
Heaven in earth! and God in man!
Great Little One, whose all-embracing birth
Lifts earth to heaven, stoops heaven to earth.
~~~~~
This wonderful short poem was written by Richard Crashaw (1613-49) who became an ordained Parish priest, but is primarily known as an English poet of Christian poetry which is full of vibrant stylistic ornamentation and indicates a brilliant wit.
Richard, the son of of a learned and enthusiastic Puritan minister, was educated at Cambridge, where he learned Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Spanish and Italian. In the same year as his graduation, 1634, he published "Epigrammatum Sacrorum" (A book of Sacred Epigrams). which consists of of a collection of Latin verse on Biblical subjects. He help a fellowship at Peterhouse, Cambridge, a centre of High Church thoughts and ideas, where he was ordained.
During the first Civil War, (1642-51), Richard's position at Peterhouse became increasingly difficult and then impossible to maintain, as a result of his increasing inclination to Roman Catholicism. He finally decided to resign his post before the Puritans could get round to evicting him. He then began preparing his first edition of "Steps to the Temple, Sacred Poems, with other Delights of the Muses" which was published in 1646. This incorporated Christian and secular poems, both in Latin and English.
In 1644, Richard Crashaw went to France, where he became a Roman Catholic. Two years later, when Queen Henrietta Maria of England, consort to Charles I, moved to Paris with her entourage, Richard was found by his fellow poet and friend, Abraham Cowley, living in poverty. The Queen arranged for him to be sent to Rome with a strong recommendation being made to the Pope, but he was assigned to a cardinal who merely made him a member of his household. Only a few months before his death was he to receive the position of canon of the cathedral of Santa Casa (Holy House) at Loreto.
Richard Crashaw's Christian English poems, entitled "Carmen Deo Nostro" ("Hymn to our Lord") were republished in Paris in 1652. This publication was illustrated with 12 of his drawings, and included some additional poems with some of his finest lines, those appended to "The Flaming Heart," a poem about St. Teresa of Avila.
Owing to the fact that he had read a lot of works by the Italian and Spanish mystics, Richard's poems reflected very little of the English metaphysical poets, but featured more of the flamboyant imagery of the continental Baroque poets. The standard text of his poems was edited by L.C. Martin (1927), which appeared in a revised edition in 1957.
In "At Bethlehem" we see a wonderful projection of what it must have been like as a shepherd, to have experienced the angels' appearance in the field near Bethlehem. We can imagine the feelings of being "sore afraid" and the announcement of good news, (the solo verse) "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." This announcement is followed by what must have sounded like a glorious heavenly choral performance, featuring a multitdude of the heavenly host praising God with "Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Looking with hindsight through 2,000 years of history, we can honestly say that peace and goodwill toward men are more needed today than they ever were, with a broken and divided world, of warring factions, self-seeking and political and religious divisions.
"At Bethlehem" describes the salvation and deliverance that God brought about by sending His only Son, Jesus into a dark world to save us from sin and deliver us from sin, ourselves and evil. The poem draws out the contrasts between darkness and light, nature's night and Love's noon. A smile from the baby Jesus brings daylight to the darkest night, love to the hardest heart. The sun rises here, not from the east but from the Saviour's eyes. It is often said that the eyes are the light of the soul. No light was needed to see the Saviour, because light shone from His face. In the Gospel of John 8:12 Jesus says of Himself, "I am the Light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."
After reading about the light from the eyes of Jesus "chasing the trembling shades away" in the third stanza, more contrasts are added to the wonders of that night of the Incarnation in the final section. We read of "Eternity shut in a span" which is another aspect of the wonder of the Incarnation, God becoming completely man and yet remaining completely God. God is eternal and exists in time and yet in Jesus He experienced the restrictions and constraints of time and space, "Heaven in earth! and God in man!" The juxtaposition of the words "Great" and "Little" in the penultimate line reveal afresh to us the humility of Jesus which we are called to follow in Philippians 2:3-11 as we seek to be His followers and servants.
The reference to Jesus' "all-embracing birth" signifies that salvation and redemption are available to all who believe in Him and receive Him as their Lord and Saviour, John 1:12-13.
Take time if you can, this Christmas, to meditate on the experience of the shepherds keeping watch over their sheep by night, by reading this poem again and the historical account in the Gospel of Luke 2:1-20. May it be the most blessed Christmas you have experienced so far in your life!
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