Page:Masterpieces of German literature volume 7.djvu/503

 Rh And in the garden kneels a child,

She weeds or merely dallies,

A lily plucks with gesture mild

And wanders down the alleys.

A shepherd group in distance dim

Lie stretched upon the heather,

And with a simple evening hymn

Wake the still breeze together.

And from the roomy threshing hall

The hammer strokes ring cheery,

The plane gives forth a crunching drawl,

The rasping saw sounds weary.

The evening star now greets the scene

And smoothly soars above it,

And o'er the cottage stands serene;

He seems in truth to love it.

A vision with such beauty crowned,

Had pious monks observed it.

They straight upon a golden ground

Had painted and preserved it.

The carpenter, the herdsmen there

A pious choral sounding;

The maiden with the lily fair,

And peace the whole surrounding;

The wondrous star that beams on all

From out the fields of heaven—

May it not be that in the stall

The Christ is born this even?