Thyself from Love Thy Heart didst not defend,
From Heaven to earth it brought Thee from Thy throne ;
Beloved, to what sheer depths didst Thou descend,
To dwell with man, unhonoured and unknown :
In life and death to enrich us without end.
Homeless and poor, with nothing of Thine own.
Thou here didst come alone.
For Thou wert called
By Love unwalled.
That all Thy heart did move.
— And as about the world Thy feet did go,
'Twas Love that led Thee, always, everywhere ;
Thy only joy, for us thy love to show,
And for thyself, no whit alone to care.
(The poem is 101 words – but it is such a beautiful reflection on our Lord's Incarnation. Written by the 13 C Italian Franciscan poet, Jacopone da Todi translated into English and included in Evelyn Underhill's spiritual biography of Jacopone)
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