The Curse and the Blessing

To Adam thus Jehovah spake--
"The ground is cursed for thy sake;
Thence eat thy bread, and there once more
Become the dust thou wert before."

"Serpent," again Jehovah said,
"The woman's seed shall bruise thy head,
Yet in the strife thy fury feel,
For thou shalt turn and wound his heel."

He comes;--we hail His glorious birth,
Who brings the blessing back to earth;
Nor Eden only, but the Tree
Of Life and immortality.