i 
 
 PS 3503 
 
 .U565N3 
 
 1912 
 
Class T^^ S03- 
 Book : LlSGS/\f 5 
 
 CQfyRIGHT DEPOSm 
 
THE NATIVITY 
 
 By JOHN BUNKER 
 
 And behold, the star, which they 
 had seen in the East, went before 
 them, until it came and stood over 
 where the Child was. 
 
 — .S7. Matt/u'7.\ C/iapfrr If. 
 
 THK SHAKESPEARE PRESS 
 
 114-116 E. 28lh Street 
 
 New York 
 
 1912 
 

 C()Pyri(;h'J', 1913, 
 
 BY 
 JOHN BUNKER. 
 
 ©CI.A328872 
 
THE .NATINITY 
 
THE NATIVITY 
 
 By John Bunker. 
 
 Hiislicd were the courts of Ileav'n; the stars were 
 
 still; 
 And all the angelic choirs — tier o'er tier. 
 Seated iii)oii their dazzling thrones of light — 
 AYith sohMnn mien and dee]) submissive awe 
 Unhanded their mute instruments. No strains, 
 AVhether of soothing lyre, exultant horn. 
 Or that more grateful tribute, vocal song, 
 Rose to the Father from that serried host 
 Of wing'd immortals, as u])on their ranks 
 Like some vast shadow of an unseen hand 
 Fell dread expectance and portentous calm. 
 Most hushed and still those heavenly spirits were. 
 So hushed and still they seemed like sliaix's of 
 
 stone. 
 
THE NATIVITY. 
 
 Lifeless and cold, save that their lustrous eyes, 
 Now pensive sad, now wide with dawning hope. 
 Imaged the restless footing of their thought 
 And so approved them vital. Like a mist. 
 Like a great mist uprisen from the sea 
 That creeping softly shoreward iinperceived 
 Blanks the boon face of nature; — so by stealth 
 Thro' all the courts celestial and bright halls 
 Drifted a subtile silence, from the verge 
 And farthest reach of Heaven's wide demesne 
 Unto her utmost pinnacle of glory. 
 
 Sudden athwart those walls of solid light 
 Strange splendor flasht, as swift from th' Eternal 
 
 Throne 
 Sped onward to its high appointed place 
 The youngest star of Heaven. Wonder smote 
 For one brief moment all that heavenly throng. 
 
THE NATIVITY 
 
 And back they slii-aiik affrighted. Then forth 
 
 brake 
 With murmurous joy and reverent posture meet 
 The cry of "Bethlehem." As when abrui)t 
 Upon the virgin peace of loftiest Alp 
 Crashes the voice of thunder, rumbling on 
 From peak to peak, till the roused avalanche 
 Ijooses his roar majestic down the gale. 
 And hollow hills and icy caverns drear 
 Give back reverberate clamor ; — so replied 
 AVith swelling cadence and puissant sound 
 Far tiers to tiers responsive; and uprose 
 Higher and ever higher from that host 
 Of sweet-voiced spirits harmony divine, 
 Celestial joy in thunderous acclaim. 
 Till shook the eternal battlements. They sang 
 "Be glory in the highest unto God," 
 Glory supreme to Heaven's Eternal King, 
 Glory unending, worship paramount. 
 
THE NATIVITY. 
 
 Praise in the highest, honiag-e most exalt, 
 Full adoration to Omnipotent God, 
 With varied iteration, rhythmic change; 
 And with that mighty sympliony were l^h'iit 
 In melhnv chime and sweetest nnison 
 From airy pipes and sul)tly stricken lyres 
 S|nritual nmsics, immaterial strains, 
 Fit for supernal eai". Meet while they sang 
 "Be glory in the highest nnto God," 
 Glory supreme to Heav'n's Eternal King, 
 Glory unending, worslii|) paramount. 
 Praise in the highest, homage most exalt. 
 Full adoration to Omnipotent God. 
 Then slowly, slowly, their pure voices fell 
 With delicate gradation, sweet decline. 
 To fainter tones and fainter, till at close 
 Trailing far strains of silver melody 
 Adown the tremulous spaces of the sky 
 Thev ceased so soft that like to blending hues 
 
TIIK NATIVITY 
 
 Of rainbow mirrored in breeze-wimpled lake 
 Silence and they did merge insensibly. 
 
 Full in that nmnnnrons hnsh, whih' y<'t did echo 
 The fitfnl sighings of aerial sonnd 
 Drifting in billowy flight from distant caverns 
 And dim recesses of the antred air, 
 High in his place of primacy uprose 
 Splendent before those luminous tiers of song 
 Their leader, and in tlirilling accents called 
 Prom out their midst his sweetest choristers. 
 Brightest of all those bright they forward moved. 
 Majestic, sovereign, free. No ])eer they had 
 From bourne to bourne of Ileav'n, whether to 
 
 swee]) 
 A\'ith mastering touch the gohh'ii-stringed lyre. 
 Or sing high hymns of praise before the Throne. 
 Koseal lightnings pUiyed about their brows; 
 Their eyes were starry, and their snowy forms, 
 
THE NATIVITY 
 
 Flushed of young beauty and celestial strength, 
 Shone with bedazzling splendor. Odorous sweet, 
 Most odorous sweet, like flowers in some fair gar- 
 den. 
 Those gracious spirits Avere, for thro' them 
 
 breathed 
 Essential purity and innnortal love. 
 Forward did those tall angels now advance 
 With tread deliberate thro' the choral ranks 
 Unto tlie i^ortal of the fane of song; 
 And as they passed, from the melodious host 
 Of heavenly lyrists, winged choristers. 
 Rose mingled benediction and farewell. 
 Unto the portal of the fane of song 
 Those sun-bright spirits came. Turning tliey 
 
 smiled 
 .V tender smile of parting on the host. 
 And thro' the massy portal swift withdrew. 
 
THE NATIVITY. 11 
 
 Tlie faery time it was of Heaven's even, 
 
 Plaeid and still, ^vhenas in purple folds 
 
 The shinnnerini^' veil of twilight wide is llnng 
 
 O'er the celestial eity. Rosily 
 
 Now glowed in rarest ether the high sunnnits 
 
 Oi pinnacle and tower, and afar 
 
 The swelling domes of stately temples shone 
 
 With golden glitter 'mid their forestry 
 
 Of slender spire and steeple, as apace 
 
 Did hasten thro' the darkling ways of Heaven 
 
 Those hierarchs of song. With burning syjeed 
 
 Thro' shadowy splendors and irradiant glooms 
 
 They forward pressed, and ever as they went 
 
 In mystic nnirmnrs the etherial ways 
 
 Echoed the rapid rhythm of their trea(L 
 
 Fleetly they glided onward, past bright fanes 
 
 And glimmering courts and skiey terraces 
 
 And many a luminous mansion of the Blest, 
 
 Nor paused till on the crystal edge they stood 
 
12 THE NATIVITY 
 
 Of Heaven's ramparts. AVide extended lay 
 B(4'()re, l)elo\v, aronnd llieni the vast ])lains 
 Of darkened azure, lii^htless tracts of blue, 
 While dimly, vaguely, they could see far off, 
 (So far they seemed minutest specks of light 
 ]jOst in the vista of Eternity), 
 Full many a starry phalanx cleaving slow 
 In regular circumference and fixt curve 
 The cerulean dusk. One only star 
 In sovereign state and single empery 
 Jligli stationed in the vaulted dome of heaven 
 Moved not, but steadfast and unshaken ever 
 Amid the clanging tumult of the spheres 
 Still stood aloof in the l)right solitude 
 Of his own grandeur, lie had ])aced afar 
 With regal bearing and monarchal |)ride 
 The skiey regions, and upon his throne. 
 Inviolate and lirm, of smouldering gold 
 And blazing sap])hii"<' builded, he now sate 
 
THE NATIVITY. 18 
 
 Al)()ve the cloudy wrack of time and cliaiii^'c 
 Kiii.i^Iikc serene, 'i'liose s])irits knew liiiii well; 
 He was of God, that i^lorioiis minister 
 Who late did speed thro' Heav'n. l^i)oii liis 
 
 throne 
 Austerely calm with Itrow contemplative 
 He now reposed; yet e\'en as they g-azed, 
 Castin,i>' his robe of splendors from about him 
 '^riiat made to scatter the etherial swarms 
 And shook with earnest miii'lit the arched heavens 
 He rose in towering- majesty, and rearing' 
 Upward his battalions arm did hurl with vii;'or, 
 With i^odlike vii^or and resistless force, 
 His javelin of light. Down night's arcane 
 Thro' bickering- shadows and the fraying hues 
 Of feverous planet and awe-troul)led star, 
 'Mid spectral twilight and uncertain gloom, 
 H fiaslit in slope career until it smote 
 
14 THE NATIVITY 
 
 Full on the breast o' the earth. Therein it stuck 
 Quivering awhile, and then was iixt and still. 
 
 With thirsty gaze and vehement desire 
 Straining upon their leash of firm control 
 Those sun-bright spirits viewed that mystic 
 
 signal, 
 .Vnd with one impulse, stark upon the edge 
 Of Heaven's ramparts, palpitant and tense. 
 They stood erect in glory. Suddenly 
 (Each in the glowing cirque his presence made 
 Stretching to fullest scope his furled pinions) 
 From that proud station forth they swept amain 
 Into th' ungiimpsed profound. Towards that 
 
 l)eam, 
 That blazing beacon of high mystery. 
 They bent their course, and with supremest effort 
 Thro' warring darkness and most ravenous 
 
 glooms, 
 
THE NATIVITY. 15 
 
 Across dim chaos and primeval voids, 
 O'er mountainous ruin and the blank crevasse, 
 Cloven of midnight and the stroke of doom. 
 They won their way. Thro' fearsome realms for- 
 lorn. 
 Past shadowy shapes of dream and ghastly 
 
 visions, 
 Which do inhabit all that misty waste 
 Betwixt the moon and nether side of Heaven, 
 Fled they on valorous wing- tempestuously. 
 Over the broad swart iields of night they sj^ed. 
 Beating- the sombre void with mighty strokes, 
 Until they reached those level tracts serene 
 Smoothed by the constant stars' unwearied tread, 
 Where they might stay their flight and seek re- 
 
 jjose. 
 Here on the downy couches of strown clouds 
 They soft reclined, or in the pools of dawn 
 And crystal streams etherial laved their limbs 
 
IG THE NATIVITY. 
 
 Ill mild disport. A happy while, tho' brief, 
 They paused in that calm region ; then refreshed 
 They rose, and shaking from their wings In-ight 
 
 moisture 
 Down thro' iniineasiiral)le space o)i winnowing 
 
 plumes 
 Earthward they plunged. Most swiftly dropt they 
 
 down. 
 And on the ani})le liosoni of the dark 
 Scattered the rays that from the newest star 
 Fell on their waving pinions silverly. 
 
 Far leagues on hnignes they sank, ami sinking 
 
 viewed 
 ^Idie th.ousand subtile wonders of the air. 
 Each in his native posture. Tliey belie hi 
 The ])rideful comet whisk his spangled tail 
 Across the heavens and tlie l)lanclied moon, 
 lloising his rondure o\'er cloudy keep, 
 
T1U<: NATIVITY. 17 
 
 Dai'tle swift silver arrows. Once tliey glimpsed 
 A flaming planet at its orbit's tip 
 Stand steadfast, then — like some rich galleon, 
 Heavy with pearl, that on benighted seas 
 Puts forth from haven — tnrn with th' aerial titles 
 And stately-slow swing down a gorged channel. 
 Blind with eternal shadow. The frore breath 
 Of blastful Boreas full upon them blew 
 And pearled with dewy drops their nndnlons hair 
 Streaming behind. Anon they drifted slow 
 Thro' the warm splendor of that sultry star 
 Named of the Dog, or drave on slanted wing- 
 Down the bright vista of the Milky AVay, 
 Paven with light. They saw the sistered seven 
 Plaiting their loosened locks in starry folds 
 Of claspered loveliness, as past the claws 
 ( )f i\w enormous Bear, lying a-sprawl, 
 Scatheless they swerved oblique. Afar tliey viewed 
 Despite of swirling mists of vaporous gold 
 
18 THE NATIVITY 
 
 Orion and the famed fraternal two, 
 In life and death twin-sharers in one glory. 
 And other swarming wonders they observed 
 Of til' npper deeps, now waning or a-burst 
 With gorgeons glitterance, swimming full npon 
 
 them. 
 Or fast receding down long avenues, 
 Vast, cavernous, and silent. Still they sank 
 On level vans thro' the clear atmosphere 
 For many a league of space before there swept 
 Into their ken the spinning ball o' the earth, 
 Sw^athed in alternate brightness and old gloom. 
 Making a sobei' twilight. They descried 
 Sudden the patient mountains lift their heads, 
 Mist-crowned and hoary, and the earth's scarred 
 
 front 
 Take on the virgin vesture of the snow. 
 Masking her shame, and the unquiet bosom 
 Of boundless ocean heave witli solemn swell. 
 
THE NATIVITY. 19 
 
 Then down the sky in silver-plashing vush 
 Of urgent syllables from their glad throats 
 Poured their sweet ti<iings of su];)reniest joy, 
 Their high supernal message, ''Peace to men;" 
 And at that sound awoke along their trail 
 A splendor, as of sunburst after storm, 
 A far-flung arch of interlucent gold 
 And ribbed clefts of purple. Near to earth, 
 And nearer still they drew, and saw the flocks 
 Lying in huddled slumber on the hills, 
 And the unsleeping shepherd standing nigh. 
 In blinding glory they pursued their way, 
 Outbreathing e'er their tidings of great joy, 
 And as they passed, the wakeful shepherd heard 
 Their jocund strains and started back adread, 
 Gladdened and awed by that rare minstrelsy. 
 Thus with expense of pure melodious breath 
 Winning them ease of their full-hearted joy 
 Onward they sped o'er countryside and town. 
 
20 THE NATIVITY. 
 
 Palaces, temples, and gray citadels, 
 
 Wall -girdled cities, nnghty wildernesses, 
 
 And the great silent desert, bare of life; 
 
 And all the night was lond with their sweet song 
 
 Of " Peace on earth to men. ' ' Sudden they paused 
 
 In middle flight, and drew on hovering wing 
 
 (^iose o'er a lowly hovel and were still 
 
 And howed with reverent dread unutterable 
 
 As there they saw the AVoman and the Child. 
 
 With l)liss-constrained eye and shaken bosom 
 Tossed in the laboring surges of delight 
 Those sovereign spirits gazed till sight was dim 
 And ached their souls for joyance. Then abrupt, 
 In such sweet accents as to angels are. 
 They brake into that chaunt late sung in Heaven: 
 "Be glory in the highest unto God." 
 Showering their golden strains of blithesome 
 sound 
 
THE NATIVITY. 21 
 
 Thov circled slow in mazy gyres of light 
 
 < )v('r that sacred s])()t and iidy felt 
 
 The joy, the i)aiig, the thrill, the recompense 
 
 Of song's delirions raptnre. So sweet pain 
 
 Knew not the primal singer in the dawn 
 
 Of his yonng })owers when from his spirit's 
 
 pinions, 
 Shaking Auroral dews, his carol clear 
 Rose like the lark that fresh from grassy covert 
 Ranges the skies in wild-wood ecstasy. 
 With descant large and utterance divine 
 They sang supreme submission to the Child, 
 (llory unending, worship ])aramonnt. 
 Praise in the highest, homage most exalt. 
 Full adoration to the Infant King. 
 But wliile they showered thus their golden strains 
 ( )f blithesome sound and wheeled in mazy gyres 
 Above that sacred dwelling, awesome change 
 Stole o'er the gradual face of the high heavens, 
 
22 THE NATIVITY. 
 
 And every star, which erst most brilliant was, 
 
 With lessening splendor and diminished might 
 
 Obscnrely shone. As when before a storm 
 
 Upon a spacious forest silence falls, 
 
 And then upsprings a solitary gust, 
 
 A gentle breeze precursive of tierce winds 
 
 And rending tempest, and straightway the birds 
 
 Seek shelter, while the brawny limbs of oaks 
 
 Sway to a temperate music, and the leaves 
 
 Whisper in terror of the coming fray; 
 
 So thro' the sky a breath of portent passed 
 
 In gentle wise, and all the branching stars 
 
 That rumorous were of wonders and eclipse 
 
 Trembled expectant. Thereupon from Heaven 
 
 Sullen there came a multitudinous tramp 
 
 Of marching legions, a stupendous beat 
 
 (Jf countless footfalls keeping single time 
 
 In vast processional. Unseen of earth 
 
 And the angelic messengers of peace 
 
THE NATiVJTY 
 
 (Jiiward (lid sweep that tliroiiii' of heavenly spirits, 
 Cohimii on eohimii, till tlieir loiul advance 
 Resonndin,i>' down the corridors of nijoht 
 With tread triumphant and victorious din 
 Made quake the skiey concave. Suddenly 
 Far off from the hid battlements of Heaven 
 Blared a lone trumpet. Then were cast to light 
 The tianung' standards of ten thousand x^eers, 
 The leaders of that myriad multitude, 
 Moving in tixt battalion, phalanx tirni, 
 And ample cohort, covering all the plain 
 Of highest Heav'n. In general advance 
 Swung onward those ))right arnnes steadily 
 Until tlieir foremost ranks attained the wall 
 Based on the verge of Heaven. There they stopt 
 And silent stood, down-looking to the earth 
 AVith museful eyes upon that scene of awe. 
 
24 THE NATIVITY. 
 
 Tliick-elustered on the ramparts of high Heaven 
 Stood the celestial armies, hushed and still, 
 Mnte-strieken by the mystei-y of love. 
 Tlioughtfnl and still eaeli watching- spirit was. 
 Thoughtful and still and rapt in reverent prayer, 
 Until he felt a pulse of mere delight 
 Make pleasant stir beneath his weight of awe 
 And flutter dove-like upward to his lips. 
 Seeking its utterance. Then that heavenly host 
 P^rom sweet compulsion and imperious joy 
 Brake into song. As when th' embattled sea 
 Long held aloof the land by rigid dyke. 
 Chafing and lashing 'iieath the scourge o' the 
 
 storm, 
 With sudden wrath shatters the barrier-wall 
 And I'anging where he lists with terrible show 
 Of complete pow'r urges his battering tides 
 Forward with thunder, — so fi-oiii that great 
 
 throno- 
 
THE NATIVITY. 
 
 Of squadroned angels, winged elioristers, 
 
 Burst the tremendous harmony. It fell 
 
 AVith noise magnifie headlong down the sky, 
 
 "Be glory in the highest unto God," 
 
 Torrential sound flooding the skiey regions 
 
 And whelming earth. It overflowed the heavens 
 
 Thro' all their bounds, and when infrequent pause 
 
 Of silence came, like wave on wave did follow 
 
 Peal, and again peal. The lofty towers 
 
 Of Heaven's peers e'en from their tops of pearl 
 
 Shook to their rooted base empyreal. 
 
 And rocked the floor of Heaven. The bi-ight 
 
 spheres 
 Trembled in bliss, and with responsive thrill 
 The pale stars flushed to glory. One only star 
 In sovereign state and single empery 
 High stationed in the vaulted dome of heaven 
 Moved not, l)ut constant and unshaken ever 
 Amid the shattering music of the spheres 
 
26 THE NATIVITY. 
 
 Still held liis iiiystie shaft of splendor true, 
 Pavilioning with light that sacred dwelling 
 Where Mary was and God 's begotten Son, 
 
 And then once more was silent highest Heaven ; 
 
 The stars again were still; and all the host 
 
 Of pure angelic beings gazing down 
 
 With nniseful eyes from the celestial rampaids, 
 
 And those bright spirits, heralds of new dawn. 
 
 Who brought the tidings of exceeding joy, 
 
 Stilled their glad tumult, and the mountains 
 
 1)0 wed 
 Their hoary heads in reverence, and the sea. 
 His feverous fret abating, became calm; 
 But one most wretched sjiot of this wide world 
 (For on her lay the shadow of the rood) 
 Hiding her 'neatli the sable scarf of night 
 drew sad and mourned, and thro' the lonely hills 
 
THE NATIVITY. 27 
 
 Voicing lier sorrow came the hollow winds. 
 And in the secret haunts of desolation 
 They wailed her grievous fault that was to be ; 
 As Mary with sweet stealth and misty eyes 
 Bent softly down and kissed the sleeping Child. 
 
PEG 21 §911 
 
■!-.'.^S.'*"^ Of" CONGRESS 
 
 lllllilllllllllll 
 
 015 906 054 8