Loreena McKennitt Follow

(John Mason Neale, 1818 - 1866; music arranged and adapted by LoreenaMcKennitt)Good King Wenceslas looked outOn the Feast of StephenWhen the snow lay 'round aboutDeep and crisp and evenBrightly shone the moon that nightThough the frost was cruelWhen a poor man came in sightGath'ring winter fuel"Hither, page, and stand by me,If thou know'st it, tellingYonder peasant, who is he?Where and what his dwelling?""Sire, he lives a good league hence,Underneath the mountainRight against the forest fenceBy Saint Agnes' fountain.""Bring me flesh and bring me wineBring me pine-logs hitherThou and I shall see him dineWhen we bear them thither."Page and monarch, forth they wentForth they went togetherThrough the rude wind's wild lamentAnd the bitter weather."Sire, the night is darker nowAnd the wind blows strongerFails my heart, I know not howI can go no longer.""Mark my footsteps, good my pageTread thou in them boldlyThou shall find the winter's rageFreeze thy blood less coldly."In his master's step he trodWhere the snow lay dintedHeat was in the very sodWhich the Saint had printedTherefore, Christian men, be sureWealth or rank possessingYe, who now will bless the poorShall yourselves find blessing.