Time to be quiet now
Baby at peace
Warmed by the nursing
The breath of the beasts
Many the stars
That burn overhead
Light for a coverlet
Manger the bed
Close to His cradle
Cockerels roam
Splendid as kings
In wattles and combs
Sheepdogs the servants
Donkeys the lords
Oxen the choristers
Lowing the words
Now in the silence
Modest and weak
Mouse and her nestlings
Rummage and squeak
High in the rafters
Swallows have nests
Choirs of pigeons
Sing Him to rest
Court of the angels
Heaven has choirs
Never more faithful
Than beasts in the byres
