91

O

THOU joyful day, O thou blesséd day,
Holy, peaceful Christmastide!
Earth's hopes awaken,

Christ life has taken,

Laud Him, O laud Him on ev'ry side!

2 O thou joyful day, O thou blesséd day, Holy, peaceful Christmastide! Christ's light is beaming,

Our souls redeeming,

Laud Him, O laud Him on ev'ry side!

3 O thou joyful day, O thou blessed day,
Holy, peaceful Christmastide!
King of all glory,

We bow before Thee,

Laud Him, O laud Him on ev'ry side!

92

J. Falk.

B. Schmucker, Tr.

HERE came a little Child to earth

THERE

Long ago;

And the angels of God proclaimed His birth High and low.

2 Out in the night so calm and still,

Their song was heard;

For they knew that the Child on Bethle'm's

hill

Was Christ the Lord.

3 Far away in the goodly land
Fair and bright,

Children with crowns of glory stand,
Robed in white.

4 They sing, the Lord of heaven so fair,
A Child was born;

And that they might His crown of glory share,

Wore crown of thorn.

5 In mortal weakness, want and pain, He came to die,

That the children of earth might in glory reign

With Him on high.

6 And evermore in robes so fair

And undefiled,

Those ransomed children His praise declare, Who was a Child.

93

IMMANUEL! we sing Thy praise,

Anon.

Thou Prince of life! Thou Fount of grace! With all Thy saints, Thee, Lord, we sing; Praise, honor, thanks, to Thee we bring! Hallelujah!

2 E'er since the world began to be,
How many a heart hath longed for Thee!
And Thou, O long expected Guest,
Hast come at last to make us blest!
Hallelujah!

3 Now art Thou here; we know Thee now;
In lowly manger liést Thou:

A child, yet makest all things great;
Poor, yet is earth Thy robe of state.
Hallelujah!

4 Now fearless I can look on Thee:
From sin and grief Thou set'st me free;
Thou bearest wrath, Thou conquerest death,
Fear turns to joy Thy glance beneath.
Hallelujah!

5 Thou art my Head, my Lord divine;
I am Thy member, wholly Thine;
And in Thy Spirit's strength would still
Serve Thee according to Thy will.
Hallelujah!

6 Thus will I sing Thy praises here,
With joyful spirit year by year;
And when we reckon years no more,
May I in heaven Thy name adore.
Hallelujah!

P. Gerhardt. C. Winkworth, Tr.

94

SLEEP, my Savior, sleep,

On Thy bed of hay,

Angels in the spangled heaven,
Sing their joyful Christmas carols
Till the dawn of day.

2 Sleep, my Savior, sleep,
On Thy bed of hay,

Ere the morning angel cometh
To the moonlit garden,

Wiping tears away.

3 Sleep, my Savior, sleep,

Sweet on Mary's breast;

Now the shepherds kneel adoring,
Now the mother's heart is joyous,
Take a happy rest.

4 Sleep, my Savior, sleep,

Sweet on Mary's breast;

Crucified with wounds and bruises,
Bleeding, purple, stained, disfigured,
One day Thou wilt rest.

95

LO, HOW a rose e'er blooming
From tender stem hath sprung,
Of Jesse's race is coming,
As men of old have sung.
It came a flow'ret bright,
Amid the cold of winter,
When half-spent was the night.

2 Isaiah 'twas foretold it,

The Rose I have in mind, With Mary we behold it, The Virgin-mother kind.

Anon.

To shew God's love aright
She bore to men a Savior,

When half-spent was the night.

3 The shepherds heard the story
Proclaimed by angels bright,
How Christ, the Lord of glory,
Was born on earth this night.
To Bethlehem they sped;
And in a manger found Him,
As angel-heralds said.

4 O sweetest Flower, I love Thee! A light pure and divine,

In beauty shine above me,

Fill Thou my heart's deep shrine!
All darkness drive away,
Save me from sin and sorrow,

Let me be blest for aye!

Trier Gesangbuch. St. 1.-Composite, Tr. St. 4.-H. Brueckner, Tr.

96

WHAT is new upon the earth?

What fresh wonder goeth forth, That its ways are full of pilgrims, And its dwellings full of mirth.

2 Sounds of gladness on the air!
Happy faces ev'rywhere!
Tell us, O ye silent virgins,
Wherefore is the night so fair?