StoryTitle("caps", "The Christmas Silence") ?>
StoryOrigin("center", SmallCapsText("Margaret Deland") ) ?>
PoemStart() ?>
PagePoem(20, "L0", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Hushed are the pigeons cooing low", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " On dusty rafters of the loft;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " And mild-eyed oxen, breathing soft,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Sleep on the fragrant hay below.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Dim shadows in the corner hide;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " The glimmering lantern's rays are shed", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " Where one young lamb just lifts his head,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Then huddles 'gainst his mother's side.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Strange silence tingles in the air;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " Through the half-open door a bar", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " Of light from one low-hanging star", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Touches a baby's radiant hair.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "No sound: the mother, kneeling, lays", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " Her cheek against the little face.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " Oh human love! Oh heavenly grace!", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "'Tis yet in silence that she prays!", "") ?>
PagePoem(21, "L0", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Ages of silence end to-night;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " Then to the long-expectant earth", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " Glad angels come to greet His birth", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "In burst of music, love, and light!", "") ?>
PoemEnd() ?>