The Three Kings - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator. He wrote many lyric poems known for their musicality and often presenting stories of mythology and legend. He became the most popular American poet of his day and also had success overseas.

Synopsis

This is part of the Bible story of the Three Wise Men, from the gospel of Mathew. The story revolves around three wise men who travelled from the east to visit Jesus after his birth. The wise men are a wonderful model of worship to share with our children. There is humanity added to these wise men.

Theme

The Three Wise Men from the east travel to Bethlehem as guided by the star to see Jesus who was born then in Judea during the reign of King Herod. These three wise men arrived in Jerusalem asking “Where is the newborn King of the Jews?”

Herod met these men privately. He told them to go to Bethlehem and search for the child. The star that had guided them so far from the east stopped at Bethlehem where the child was.

These men came to the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary. They bowed down and worshipped him. Then, they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Mary kept their gifts in her heart and when it was time for them to leave, they returned to their country by another route as God had warned them in the dream not to return to Herod. He had planned to kill the child.

Stanza wise explanation

Three Kings came riding from far away,

Melchior and Gaspar and Baltasar;

Three Wise Men out of the East were they,

And they traveled by night and they slept by day,

For their guide was a beautiful, wonderful star.

 The Three Wise Men Melchior, Gaspar and Baltasar had come from the east guided by a beautiful star.

The star was so beautiful, large and clear,

That all the other stars of the sky

Became a white mist in the atmosphere,

And by this, they knew that the coming was near

Of the Prince foretold in the prophecy.

It was a beautiful star that guided them to the place of birth of Jesus as prophesied.  

Three caskets they bore on their saddle-bows,

Three caskets of gold with golden keys;

Their robes were of crimson silk with rows

Of bells and pomegranates and furbelows,

Their turbans like blossoming almond-trees.

They had three treasure chests (boxes) of gold. They were exquisitely dressed in crimson silk.

And so the Three Kings rode into the West,

Through the dusk of the night, over hill and dell,

And sometimes they nodded with beard on breast,

And sometimes talked, as they paused to rest,

With the people, they met at some wayside well.

These three wise men travelled to the west through the dusk of the  night often talking to the people when they rested.

“Of the child that is born,” said Baltasar,

“Good people, I pray you, tell us the news;

For we in the East have seen his star,

And have ridden fast, and have ridden far,

To find and worship the King of the Jews.”

Baltasar asks the people to tell them about the holy child that is born, for they have come far from the east to worship the King of the Jews.

And the people answered, “You ask in vain;

We know of no King but Herod the Great!”

They thought the Wise Men were men insane,

As they spurred their horses across the plain,

Like riders in haste, who cannot wait.

The people say that they know only about King Herod the Great and no one else. So, they say that the wise men must be insane to ride in haste.

And when they came to Jerusalem,

Herod the Great, who had heard this thing,

Sent for the Wise Men and questioned them;

And said, “Go down unto Bethlehem,

And bring me tidings of this new king.”

In Jerusalem Herod meets these wise men secretly and asks them to go to Bethlehem to search for the child.

So they rode away, and the star stood still,

The only one in the grey of morn;

Yes, it stopped—it stood still of its own free will,

Right over Bethlehem on the hill,

The city of David, where Christ was born.

The Three Men rode till the star stood still; it stopped over Bethlehem where Christ was born.

And the Three Kings rode through the gate and the guard,

Through the silent street, till their horses turned

And neighed as they entered the great inn-yard;

But the windows were closed, and the doors were barred,

And only a light in the stable burned.

They reached the inn-yard but the windows were closed. A light in the stable burned.

And cradled there in the scented hay,

In the air made sweet by the breath of kine,

The little child in the manger lay,

The child, that would be king one day

Of a kingdom not human, but divine.

The sweet little child who would be king of a divine kingdom one day lay in the manger (crib).

His mother Mary of Nazareth

Sat watching beside his place of rest,

Watching the even flow of his breath,

For the joy of life and the terror of death

Were mingled together in her breast.

 The mother Mary sat watching while the child was fed with the joy of life and terror of death.

They laid their offerings at his feet:

The gold was their tribute to a King,

The frankincense, with its odor sweet,

Was for the Priest, the Paraclete,

The myrrh for the body’s burying.

They offered their gifts they had brought. 

And the mother wondered and bowed her head,

And sat as still as a statue of stone,

Her heart was troubled yet comforted,

Remembering what the Angel had said

Of an endless reign and of David’s throne.

The mother’s heart was troubled and yet comforted remembering what the Angel had said.

Then the Kings rode out of the city gate,

With a clatter of hoofs in proud array;

But they went not back to Herod the Great,

For they knew his malice and feared his hate,

And returned to their homes by another way.

These wise men returned to their country by another route fearing the malice of Herod.