Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A LEGEND OF THE CHILD JESUS; WRITTEN FOR A CHILD, by GEORGE MURRAY (1830-1910)


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A LEGEND OF THE CHILD JESUS; WRITTEN FOR A CHILD, by                    
First Line: You ask a story, dearest. Here is one
Last Line: Healed by the kisses of the holy child.
Subject(s): Jesus Christ - Childhood & Youth; John The Baptist, Saint (1st Century)


You ask a story, dearest. Here is one
Heard oft amid the peasant homes of France.

It was the time when Jesus was a child,
And, with the Baptist and his cherished lamb,
He wandered forth among the hills and dales
In the calm hours that closed a summer eve.
And they were glad: the lambkin frisked and played,
Or cropped green herbage with its milk-white teeth,
While the two cousins gathered wilding flowers,
Dipped their bare feet in limpid streams, or culled
Ripe crimson berries from full-laden boughs.
As thus they rambled peacefully it chanced
Two rustic children met them. These were wroth
Each with the other, and the stronger held
Bound by the feet a white and innocent dove
That strove to soar and ever as she strove
Was balked and baffled by a spiteful cord.
Out spake the weaker lad: "The bird is mine.
Why hast thou robbed me? It was I that snared
The silly pigeon and thou hast no right
To filch my plaything. Give me back my own."
Thereat, his comrade stormed a wilful "No!
Thou shalt not have it; I will keep the bird."
Then the meek Jesus sorrowfully spake:
"Lo! with red blood her slender legs are stained,
Her eyes are dim and she is sick to death:
How wilt thou find thy pleasure in her pain?
I cannot think thou hast a cruel heart,
For thou, like me, art still of tender years;
Too thoughtless, may be. Wherefore loose, I pray,
This chafing cord and let the captive fly
Home to her callow nestlings that await
Her coming and are all agape for food."
Then the boy's heart was softened and he said:
"Well hast thou spoken and thy pitying tones
Have moved my pity more than I can tell.
Thy pleading shames me;—I will loose the dove.
Would I were like thee; but whate'er I am,
Thou must not think that I am void of ruth."
So saying, he unloosed the cord that bound
The victim's feet, and "Pretty sufferer, fly,"
He cried, "fly homeward to thy downy nest
In the green woods and feed thy gaping chicks."

But, when the other saw the harmless bird
Freed from her bonds, he stooped and snatched a stone
Up from the roadside, and with deadly aim
And fury, hurled it at the joyous dove
Which dropped to earth, as lifeless as the stone—
Her slim throat mangled by the ragged flint.
Then, with keen taunts, he flung her at the feet
Of Jesus, hissing: "Meddler! take thy prize
And grant the darling leave to soar again!"
But the meek Jesus sadly from the ground
Raised the dead bird, and said: "Alas! poor boy,
Thou dost not know the evil thou hast wrought
By thy brief passion. God himself alone
Can to a lifeless creature life recall."
Then, kneeling down, he humbly joined his hands
In prayer, and, looking up to heaven with eyes
That swam in tears, sighed, "O! that I were God!"
And once again, "Ah! would that I were God!"
Scarce had his prayer upfloated, when the dove,
Kissed by his hallowed lips, unclosed her eyes,
Oped her light wings and clove the liquid air.
Awestruck, the children watched; then, he whose hand
Had freed the captive, whispered: "Art thou God?"
And Jesus answered him: "I cannot tell."

Then suddenly a rush of nimble wings
Whirred, and descending in a golden beam,
The dove returned and settled on the brow
Of the meek Jesus. While it lingered there,
The spell-bound children heard a solemn voice
That fell like music on their ears, and cried:
"I am the God of Heaven and He who woke
Life from death's sleep is my beloved Son."
Then first the Baptist by these tokens knew
That the meek Jesus was the Son of God;
And gazing on the twice-born dove, he saw
A brown half-circle on her snowy neck
Marked newly there, in memory of the wound
Healed by the kisses of the Holy Child.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net