It was a decree of Herod,
Caused mothers to run wild;
He sent soldiers from his palace
To kill each young male child.

To kill the babe, the mother's hope:
To mothers it didn't seem right;
The mothers with their babies
For refuge took their flight.

One mother fled for refuge
To a cave within the ground;
To all it was suspicious;
By a soldier it was found.

Looking in at the open door,
As a bird upon its nest,
He saw a frightened mother
With a babe pressed to her breast.

'What seek ye?' cried the mother,
With a voice both faint and wild;
'I am on a duty from Herod
To kill each young male child!'

'Oh! spare my child!' cried the mother;
'I pray thee let it live;
If life's what thou seek'st,
Take mine; I'll freely give!'

'It's not your's; it's the babe's;
My duty I must perform.'
He reaches his hand toward her
To take it from her arm.

Back to the corner she fled;
He rushed like a wild bear;
As a wolf on a lamb, he seized
And from her bosom tore.

The mother, to save her babe,
Bounds like a flying dart.
Too late! he unsheathed his blade
And drives it through its heart.

The mother, viewing the horrible scene,
Sinks breathless upon the floor;
He throws the babe by her side
Steps from the earthen door.

The mother, dying upon the ground,
Once from death did awake;
Saw her struggling baby lying
With arms outstretched to take.

Quick as lightning her babe she grasped,
Her lips pressed to its wound;
They both gave up life's precious breath,
Sank dead upon the ground.

A spirit went wafting through the sky
With a babe upon its breast;
Within the cave their corpses are seen,
Their souls are in heav'n at rest.