The Dogs Of Bethlehem

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Title:     The Dogs Of Bethlehem
Author: Katharine Lee Bates [More Titles by Bates]

Many a starry night had they known,
Melampo, Lupina and Cubilon,
Shepherd-dogs, keeping
The flocks, unsleeping,
Serving their masters for crust and bone.

Many a starlight but never like this,
For star on star was a chrysalis
Whence there went soaring
A winged, adoring
Splendor out-pouring a carol of bliss.

Sniffing and bristling the gaunt dogs stood,
Till the seraphs, who smiled at their hardihood,
Calmed their panic
With talismanic
Touches like wind in the underwood.

In the dust of the road like gold-dust blown,
Melampo, Lupina and Cubil[=o]n
Saw strange kings, faring
On camels, bearing
Treasures too bright for a mortal throne.

Shepherds three on their crooks a-leap
Sped after the kings up the rugged steep
To Bethlehem; only
The dogs, left lonely,
Stayed by the fold and guarded the sheep.

Faithful, grim hearts! The marvelous glow
Flooded e'en these with its overflow,
Wolfishness turning
Into a yearning
To worship the highest a dog may know.

When dawn brought the shepherds, each to his own,
Melampo, Lupina and Cubil[=o]n
Bounded to meet them,
Frolicked to greet them,
Eager to serve them for love alone.

[The end]
Katharine Lee Bates's Poem: Dogs Of Bethlehem

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