StoryTitle("caps", "The Three Kings") ?>
StoryOrigin("center", SmallCapsText("Henry Wadsworth Longfellow") ) ?>
PoemStart() ?>
PagePoem(48, "L0", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Three Kings came riding from far away,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Melchior and Gaspar and Baltasar;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Three Wise Men out of the East were they,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And they travelled by night and they slept by day,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "For their guide was a beautiful, wonderful star.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "The star was so beautiful, large, and clear,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " That all the other stars of the sky", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Became a white mist in the atmosphere,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And by this they knew that the coming was near", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " Of the Prince foretold in the prophecy.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Three caskets they bore on their saddle-bows,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " Three caskets of gold with golden keys;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Their robes were of crimson silk with rows", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Of bells and pomegranates and furbelows,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " Their turbans like blossoming almond-trees.", "") ?>
PagePoem(49, "L0", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And so the Three Kings rode into the West,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " Through the dusk of night, over hill and dell,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And sometimes they nodded with beard on breast,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And sometimes talked, as they paused to rest,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " With the people they met at some wayside well.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0DQ", "", "\"Of the child that is born,\" said Baltasar,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2DQ", "", " \"Good people, I pray you, tell us the news;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "For we in the East have seen his star,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And have ridden fast, and have ridden far,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " To find and worship the King of the Jews.\"", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And the people answered, \"You ask in vain;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " We know of no king but Herod the Great!\"", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "They thought the Wise Men were men insane,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "As they spurred their horses across the plain,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " Like riders in haste, and who cannot wait.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And when they came to Jerusalem,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " Herod the Great, who had heard this thing,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Sent for the Wise Men and questioned them;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And said, \"Go down unto Bethlehem,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " And bring me tidings of this new king.\"", "") ?>
PagePoem(50, "L0", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "So they rode away; and the star stood still,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " The only one in the gray of morn;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Yes, it stopped,—it stood still of its own free will,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Right over Bethlehem on the hill,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " The city of David, where Christ was born.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And the Three Kings rode through the gate and the guard,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " Through the silent street, till their horses turned", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And neighed as they entered the great inn-yard;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "But the windows were closed, and the doors were barred,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " And only a light in the stable burned.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And cradled there in the scented hay,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " In the air made sweet by the breath of kine,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "The little child in the manger lay,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "The child, that would be king one day", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " Of a kingdom not human but divine.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "His mother Mary of Nazareth", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " Sat watching beside his place of rest,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Watching the even flow of his breath,", "") ?>
PagePoem(51, "L0", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "For the joy of life and the terror of death", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " Were mingled together in her breast.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "They laid their offerings at his feet:", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " The gold was their tribute to a King,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "The frankincense, with its odor sweet,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Was for the Priest, the Paraclete,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " The myrrh for the body's burying.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And the mother wondered and bowed her head,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " And sat as still as a statue of stone;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Her heart was troubled yet comforted,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Remembering what the Angel had said", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " Of an endless reign and of David's throne.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Then the Kings rode out of the city gate,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " With a clatter of hoofs in proud array;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "But they went not back to Herod the Great,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "For they knew his malice and feared his hate,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", " And returned to their homes by another way.", "") ?>
PoemEnd() ?>