The Messenger
The Messenger
'Twas on a coal-black Christmas night
When the sky shone dark as tar
My breath came clouds in the knife-edged air
And the chimneys puffed sparks at the stars
I walked past windows that poured forth light
From families that sang round the fire
There was many a tear shed for joy that night
But my eyes had never been drier
My eyes had never been drier
My footsteps led to some crossing-place
Where the frozen stream crackled below
When off to the left, no more than a pace
I thought I perceived a glow
And so I turned and beheld the sight
In light that streamed from above
I saw a poor angel fallen low
Lying like some storm-driven dove
Lying there like some storm-driven dove
Oh, I bid you, kind sir, I heard him say
Please tarry a while by my side
There's cold comfort here for an angel this night
And bitter were the tears he cried
I came to deliver a message, he said
To some stranger in this town
But every heart's door was barred to me
And now my burden it bears me down
Now my burden it bears me down
Well, I bowed my head and for once I prayed
No, I never had prayed true before
It seemed so cruel such a creature should lie
Down here where the chilly winds roar
And if the skies aren't empty,
then God must've laughed
To hear such strange sympathy
From a creature so hobbled and halting as I
For one so much higher than me
For one so much higher than me
And when I looked up, the angel was gone
Though his arrow had flown to its mark
For in the dry kindling I’d once called a heart
The good Lord had struck forth a spark
So friends, though not seeking, you yet may find
Where solitude bids you to roam
Some poor strange angel with wounds to bind
Oh I pray you, good friends, speed him home
I pray you, good friends, speed him home