NEW HEAVEN, NEW WAR.

Come to your heaven, you heavenly quires!
Earth hath the heaven of your desires;
Remove your dwelling to your God,
A stall is now His blest abode;
Sith men their homage do deny,
Come, angels, all their fault supply.

This little Babe, so few days old,
Is come to rifle Satan's fold;

All hell doth at His presence quake,
Though He himself for cold do shake;
For in this weak, unarmed wise
The gates of hell He will surprise.

My soul, with Christ join thou in fight;
Stick to the tents that He hath pight;
Within His crib is surest ward,
This little Babe will be thy guard;
If thou wilt foil thy foes with joy,
Then flit not from this heavenly Boy.

Robert Southwell.

For Christmas Day.

73

FOR CHRISTMAS DAY.

Rejoice, rejoice, with heart and voice!
In Christé's birth this day rejoice!
From Virgin's womb this day did spring
The precious seed that only savéd man;
This day let man rejoice and sweetly sing,
Since on this day salvation first began.

This day did Christ man's soul from death remove,

With glorious saints to dwell in heaven

above.

This day to man came pledge of perfect peace,
This day to man came perfect unity,

This day man's grief began for to surcease,
This day did man receive a remedy

For each offence and every deadly sin,
With guilty heart that erst he wandered in.

In Christé's flock let love be surely placed,
From Christé's flock let concord hate expel,
Of Christé's flock let love be so embraced
As we in Christ and Christ in us may dwell;
Christ is the author of all unity,

From whence proceedeth all felicity.

O sing unto this glittering, glorious king,
O praise His name let every living thing;
Let heart and voice, like bells of silver, ring
The comfort that this day doth bring;

Let lute, let shawm, with sound of sweet de

light,

The joy of Christé's birth this day recite. Francis Kinwelmersh, A.D. 1576.

Sung to the King in the Presence at Whitehall. 75

SUNG TO THE KING IN THE PRESENCE AT WHITEHALL.

Chor. What sweeter music can we bring,
Than a carol for to sing

The birth of this our heavenly King?
Awake the voice! awake the string!
Heart, ear, and eye, and everything
Awake! the while the active finger
Runs divisions with the singer.

From the flourish they come to the song.
Dark and dull night, fly hence away,
And give the honor to this day,
That sees December turn'd to May.

If we may ask the reason, say
The why and wherefore all things here
Seem like the spring-time of the year?
Why does the chilling winter's morn
Smile like a field beset with corn?
Or smell like to a mead new-shorn,
Thus on the sudden? Come and see
The cause why things thus fragrant be:
"Tis He is born whose quickening birth
Gives life and lustre public mirth
To heaven and the under-earth.

Chor. We see Him come, and know Him ours, Who with His sunshine and His showers Turns all the patient ground to flowers.

The darling of the world is come,
And fit it is we find a room

To welcome Him. The nobler part
Of all the house here is the heart.

Chor. Which we will give Him; and bequeath
This holly and this ivy wreath,
To do Him honor, who's our King,
And Lord of all this revelling.

Robert Herrick.