O Bethlem town tonight is cold, And Bethlem town is very dark; Down tumbling street, on upland wold Stirs neither wife nor patriarch; No travelers the inn doors seek Where still the gust stirred signboards creak. The dull, dumb shepherds of the heath Are warm beside their wives in bed; The mildewed manger chills beneath The wet thatch gaping overhead; The ancient stars are tired and dim, And no new star announces Him. Or is it that we cannot hear The least of spiritual songs, And know not some strange joy more near Than too familiar angel throngs? Of Him the greater is our need Whose life has dwindled to a creed. Because we know the Lord once woke Unto a far off people's pain, We dream, a numb bewildered folk, That He might think to come again And save, through new enlightening cares, A world more sorrowful than theirs.