As I was kneeling on my knee
Thinking on Thy Nativity,
A salty sting came to my eye,
Although I did not then know why.

Bitter to me the taste of things,
Though angels with outstretchèd wings
Were singing of Thine Advent dear.
Their melody I could not hear.

I could not hear the song they sang
That with unbounded gladness rang,
Because I wander evil-starred
And I have learned Thy Will is hard.

Too hard, it sometimes seems, to bear;
You do not take away our care:
But anguish has not broken me,
Because of Thy Nativity.

(26th July, St Anne's Day, 2010.)