Nativity

Let tomorrow laugh, or be blotted out —
you, Bethlehem, shall not pass away.
And on the day man's heart is a ghoul,
and every star is in its setting,
you remain a refuge for minds,
O manger!

And a thought — how mighty a thought! —
that flew up out of the East;
O stairway toward the sky,
O law of gentleness!