Gloomy night embraced the place

Where the Noble Infant lay;

The Babe looked up and showed his face,

In spite of darkness, it was day.

It was thy day, Sweet! and did rise

Not from the east, but from thine eyes.

Welcome, all wonders in one sight!

Eternity shut in a span;

Summer in winter; day in night;

Heaven in earth, and God in man.

Great little one, whose all-embracing birth

Lifts earth to heaven, stoops heaven to earth.

-Richard Crashaw from “In the Holy Nativity of Our Lord” (17th century poet)