| W. Garrett Horder, comp. The Poets’ Bible: New Testament. 1895. | | | | The Slaughter of the Innocents | | Reginald Heber (1783–1826) |
| | | OH, weep not o’er thy children’s tomb, | |
| O Rachel, weep not so! | |
| The bud is cropt by martyrdom, | |
| The flower in heaven shall blow. | |
| |
| Firstlings of faith! the murderer’s knife | 5 |
| Has missed its deadliest aim: | |
| The God for whom they gave their life, | |
| For them to suffer came. | |
| |
| Though feeble were their days and few, | |
| Baptised in blood and pain; | 10 |
| He knows them, whom they never knew, | |
| And they shall live again. | |
| |
| Then weep not o’er thy children’s tomb, | |
| O Rachel, weep not so; | |
| The bud is cropt by martyrdom, | 15 |
| The flower in heaven shall blow. | | | | |
|
|
