What news, what news this bitter night,
When all is
shuttered in the gloom?
No news except a baby born,
Who finds within an ox’s
stall his narrow room.
What men are these who hurry past?
What wonder do they
run to see?
Shepherds who heart the herald song,
Who haste in stable to adore
the mystery.
What child is this who, sleeping, makes
The manger throne his
resting place?
None but the King of heaven high,
Born into dying to redeem our
fallen race!
What shall I bring to honor Him?
What homage pay, what poor gift
give?
Naught but your heard which, dead in sin,
Finds in this Child redeeming
love—and strength to live!
The
poem is by the late Dr. Henry Letterman, longtime professor of English at
Concordia Teachers College, River Forest, IL. Dr. Richard Hillert, of the same institution, put this poem to music for Grace Lutheran Church, River Forest, IL. It was recorded by the Schola Cantorum of St. Peter’s in the Loop in 1992.