Of Jesse Promised Fruit

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Herbert Howells (1892-1983)
A Spotless Rose (1919)

A spotless rose is blowing,
Sprung from a tender root,
Of ancient seers foreshowing,
Of Jesse promised fruit;
Its fairest bud unfolds to light
Amid the cold, cold winter,
And in the dark midnight.

The rose which I am singing,
Whereof Isaiah said,
Is from its sweet root springing
In Mary purest maid;
For through our God’s great love and might,
The Blessed Babe she bare us
In a cold, cold winter’s night.

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