_CHORUS_ _Where sleepeth till dawn-break the light of the new morrow?_ _Alleluia!_ _Lo, as a babe, it sleepeth in a little manger:_ _Light of the World! Alleluia!_ _The dark is his cradle;_ _The beasts come about him;_ _The stars in their watches_ _Are covered with cloud._ _Home hath he none;_ _The desert receives him—_ _The place of outcasts_ _And lonely things._ _No sound is heard there_ _Save shepherds singing;_ _The lords of earth_ _Avert their faces;_ _Dark—dark is his cradle._ _Yet surely will dawn break with light of his new morrow:_ _Alleluia!_ _Yea, for the babe that sleepeth in a little manger_ _Is Light of the World: Alleluia!_ (The FAIRIES and BEASTS peer in the MANGER with awed delight. Murmuring aloud, they speak to JOSEPH.) ELF May we not dance for him? GNOME And make gambols? LION May I give him my bone? ’Twill make him a rare toy! BEAR Ooff!—If he lie in my lap, my fur will warm him. WOLF Look-ee! If I wag my tail for him, he will laugh. JOSEPH Hush! He is asleep. Please do not wake Him. (The BEASTS draw back. Kneeling down with ELF and GNOME, all Five sing together.) [Sidenote: _Carol 3. Luck Song_] THE BEASTS AND FAIRIES _While this Light-Child sleeping lies,_ _Word or murmur never wake him!_ _But when he shall open his eyes,_ _Mirth and antics we will make him._ _Amen!_ JOSEPH Thank you, friends, for your courtesies; But now the night grows old, and we are weary of wandering. Out of the land of Herod we are fled, and go into Egypt. Mary and Joseph are we, and Jesus, the little Child, Whom these good Shepherds bear with us in his birth-cradle. Now we must needs find shelter for the babe to rest. TREE Now welcome, Mary and Joseph, and Jesus, the little Child! Rest you, I pray, with these Shepherds, under my boughs. JOSEPH Gentle Tree, you say kindly. SHEPHERD (To MARY, with gladness) Here Herod can never harm Him, Lady dear. TREE Who is Herod, that he would harm a little child? JOSEPH Herod is lord of the world—there, in the land we have fled from. Mighty is he, yet afraid: for out of the east Three Wise Men followed a star to this poor manger, Telling Herod a little child should inherit his kingdom. Mighty is Herod, yet trembles now on his throne, And wishes this Little One death. SHEPHERD But shall never find Him! JOSEPH