The Side Windows: Jerome

The peaceful star of Bethlehem
Came o'er thy solitude,
The radiance of that heavenly gem
Lit up thy sterner mood;
Yea, like a star in murky wells,
Cheering the bed where darkness dwells,
The images of earth its happier light imbued.

The thought of the Eternal Child
Upon thy cloistral cell
Must sure have cast an influence mild,
And, like a holy spell,
Have peopled that fair Eastern night
With dreams meet for an Eremite,
Beside that cradle poor bidding the world farewell.