"It's queer," she said; "I see the light
 As plain as I beheld it then,
All silver-like and calm and bright-
 We've not had stars like that again!

"And she was such a gentle thing
 To birth a baby in the cold.
The barn was dark and frightening-
 This new one's better than the old.

"I mind my eyes were full of tears,
 For I was young, and quick distressed,
But she was less than me in years
 That held a son against her breast.

"I never saw a sweeter child-
 The little one, the darling one!-
I mind I told her, when he smiled
 You'd know he was his mother's son.

"It's queer that I should see them so-
 The time they came to Bethlehem
Was more than thirty years ago;
 I've prayed that all is well with them."