Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh
GOLD, frankincense, and myrrh they brought the new-born Christ,—Those wise men from the East,—and in the ox’s stallThe far-brought precious gifts they heaped, with love unpriced;And Christ the babe looked on, and wondered not at all.
Gold, frankincense, and myrrh I, too, would offer thee,O King of faithful hearts, upon thy Christmas Day;And poor and little worth although the offering be,Because thou art so kind, I dare to think I may.
I bring the gold of faith, which, through the centuries long,Still seeks the Holy Child, and worships at his feet,And owns him for its Lord, with gladness deep and strong,And joins the angel choir, singing in chorus sweet.
The frankincense I bear is worship which can rise,Like perfume floating up higher and higher still,Till on the wings of prayer it finds the far blue skies,And falls, as falls the dew, to freshen heart and will.
And last I bring the myrrh, half bitter and half sweet,Of my own selfish heart, through sacrifice made clean,And break the vase and spill the oil upon thy feet,O Lord of Christmas Day, as did the Magdalene.
Gold, frankincense, and myrrh,—’tis all I have to bringTo thee, O Holy Child, now throned in heaven’s mid!Because thou art so kind, take the poor offering,And let me go forth blessed, as once the Wise Men did.
Words in this poem
- unpriced a.
- Not priced; being without a fixed or certain value; also, priceless.
- babe n.
- An infant; a young child of either sex; a baby. [Cf. Ir. bab, baban, W. baban, maban.]
- wondered a.
- Having performed wonders; able to perform wonderful things.
- freshen v. t.
- To make fresh; to separate, as water, from saline ingredients; to make less salt; as, to freshen water, fish, or flesh.
- spill n.
- A bit of wood split off; a splinter. [sq. root170. Cf. Spell a splinter.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Few More Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #49518; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Susan Coolidge, Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/gold-frankincense-and-myrrh.html, id L23490.
Form and metre
Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is alexandrines, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in alexandrines.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABAB christA · stallB · unpricedA · allB
- 2 ABAB theeA · dayB · beA · mayB
- 3 ABAB longA · feetB · strongA · sweetB
- 4 ABAB riseA · stillB · skiesA · willB
- 5 ABAB sweetA · cleanB · feetA · magdaleneB
- 6 ABAB bringA · midB · offeringA · didB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against alexandrines. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| GOLD, frankincense, and myrrh they brought the new-born Christ,— | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| Those wise men from the East,—and in the ox’s stall | 11 | ··········· |
| The far-brought precious gifts they heaped, with love unpriced; | 12 | ···/˘·····˘/ |
| And Christ the babe looked on, and wondered not at all. | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| Gold, frankincense, and myrrh I, too, would offer thee, | 12 | ·/˘······/˘· |
| O King of faithful hearts, upon thy Christmas Day; | 12 | ···/˘····/˘· |
| And poor and little worth although the offering be, | 12 | ···/˘····/˘· |
| Because thou art so kind, I dare to think I may. | 12 | ············ |
| I bring the gold of faith, which, through the centuries long, | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| Still seeks the Holy Child, and worships at his feet, | 12 | ···/˘··/˘··· |
| And owns him for its Lord, with gladness deep and strong, | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| And joins the angel choir, singing in chorus sweet. | 12 | ···/˘//˘·/˘· |
| The frankincense I bear is worship which can rise, | 12 | ·/˘····/˘··· |
| Like perfume floating up higher and higher still, | 12 | ·˘//˘·/˘·/˘· |
| Till on the wings of prayer it finds the far blue skies, | 12 | ············ |
| And falls, as falls the dew, to freshen heart and will. | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| And last I bring the myrrh, half bitter and half sweet, | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| Of my own selfish heart, through sacrifice made clean, | 12 | ···/˘··/˘··· |
| And break the vase and spill the oil upon thy feet, | 12 | ············ |
| O Lord of Christmas Day, as did the Magdalene. | 12 | ···/˘····/˘· |
| Gold, frankincense, and myrrh,—’tis all I have to bring | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| To thee, O Holy Child, now throned in heaven’s mid! | 12 | ···/˘····/˘· |
| Because thou art so kind, take the poor offering, | 12 | ·········/˘˘ |
| And let me go forth blessed, as once the Wise Men did. | 12 | ············ |
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