Charlotte Maria Mason, 1907
Page 6, "Saviour of the World", Volume 1, "The Holy Infancy"

II
Conflict, disaster ceased : the Earth was still
As one who holds his breath : proud souls and meek
Waited the Expectation of Nations.

A rustle underfoot when none doth move,
Peals overhead when skies are blue and high,
Warm breath on cheek when no man is in sight, -

As though by signs like these, were men perturbed :
All hearts uprose, as seas to meet the moon,
Questioning, uneasy, How t'abide the Coming ?

No man could tell what he was looking for ;
Each knew within himself a nameless need ;
And souls, an-hungered, for appeasement cried.

Page 7, "Saviour of the World", Volume 1, "The Holy Infancy"

III
An aged priest, within the temple courts,
In meditation watched the curling fumes -
His lot was to burn incense - and all the prayers
Of men he saw ascending ; no, not all -
That prayer he prayed, and prayed again, for years,
He and his wife Elizabeth, had that
Indeed gone up to God ? - A sudden gleam,
In that dim place, of light ineffable
Arrested him, and lo, an angel stood
At the right side of the altar :
			"Fear not thou,"
The angelic word, for Zacharias trembled :
How had he dared to doubt ? But not to chide
The visitor was sent : "Thy prayer is heard,"
(That very prayer of years ago he deemed
Had lost its way) : "thy wife Elizabeth
Shall carry babe in gladness ; nor to her
And thee alone this joy (not any pair 
May hold their child for all their own : but this) -
Many shall rejoice at his birth, for he
A great one in the sight of God shall be,
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Filled with the Spirit from his mother's womb.
Give him not juice of grape, nor any drink
To cloud his clear intelligence of good :
His people shall he turn to God with the cry,
'Make ready, there, the highway for the King!' -
Whereat shall natural duties prick men's hearts ;
Fathers bethink them of a son denied,
Children, of fathers recklessly defied -
Unseemly matters for the King to see -
and, rough made plain, behold the King's highway!
He goes before Messias to prepare,
As spake the prophets, a people for the Lord."

So said the seraph : Woe to the doubting heart !
No sudden generous impulse makes him sure -
Perchance, if he might see the wounds of Christ ?
But lesser proof avails not, though it were
An angel fraught with promises should speak !
So, Zacharias : "How shall I know this thing ?
I am an old man, and my wife is old ;
Not for the aged are the joys of child-birth ! "
To whom, austere, the seraph, grave rebuking :-
"I, Gabriel, who in the Presence stand,
Am sent by the Most High to thee with word
Of these glad tidings : be thou dumb, nor speak
Till all shall be fulfilled."
			So he went forth
Among the wondering people, making signs,
Whereby they knew an angel spake with him.

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And, like an inlay in old cabinet,
His life a space of silence held, wherein
He spake with God, and was abash'd.

After these days Elizabeth conceived,
And for five months did hide herself from men
And praise God alway, Who, of His dear grace,
Shame and reproach had taken from her face.