(no subject)

[tree_and_leaf]

Fourth Sunday O Oriens (O Morning Star)

Eala Earendel, engla beorhtast, ofer middangeard monnum sended?

Brightest and best of the sons of the morning,
Dawn on our darkness and lend us Thine aid;
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.

Cold on His cradle the dewdrops are shining;
Low lies His head with the beasts of the stall;
Angels adore Him in slumber reclining,
Maker and Monarch and Savior of all!

Say, shall we yield Him, in costly devotion,
Odors of Edom and offerings divine?
Gems of the mountain and pearls of the ocean,
Myrrh from the forest, or gold from the mine?

Vainly we offer each ample oblation,
Vainly with gifts would His favour secure;
Richer by far is the heart’s adoration,
Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.


Another carol which is surprisingly difficult to find on youTube: I can’t say I’ve ever thought of this hymn as naturally accompanied by electric guitar, but at least it’s muscular and not twee. One American poster described is as an “old gospel song”, which I’m sure would baffle Dr Heber (Anglican Bishop of Calcutta and Fellow of All Souls), but that’s the oral tradition for you…

I’ve always loved this hymn; it even makes me forgive Heber for writing the unutterably dreary “By Cool Siloam’s Shady Rill”, which is a real wet-Sunday-morning-in-church one (though to be fair, it’s not helped by a particularly dirge like tune. Bafflingly popular for baptisms in the Kirk: “By COOL Si-LO-am’s sha-ady rill/ the LI-ily MU-ust deca-ay…”)

Comments

[schreibergasse.livejournal.com]

Eala Earendel, engla beorhtast, ofer middangeard monnum sended

...remind the non-Anglo-Saxonists?

[tree_and_leaf]

Hail Earendel, brightest of angels, sent over Middle Earth (or just: earth) to men. From Crist

Earendel is, apparently, the OE name for the morning star; in the poem, it probably means John the Baptist, though other interpretations have been suggested (as you won't be surprised to hear. It's also one of the inspirations for the Silmarilion.

[maeve-rigan.livejournal.com]

Well, I will say this surprised me! Merry Christmas, Jordan Emmans and your band!

The "cyberhymnal" says it was originally written for Epiphany!
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/b/r/brightes.htm

[tree_and_leaf]

Epiphany

Yes, it was, but I thought I wouldn't let that stop me, especially as it involves a star! I am trying not to be a total liturgical season fascist...

Well, I will say this surprised me! Merry Christmas, Jordan Emmans and your band!

Ah, you know them?

[maeve-rigan.livejournal.com]

Never heard of them before, but approve of their rendition.

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

What is a hymn mentioning decay doing at baptisms?

I vaguely remember this being sung to a high and open-hearted tune, but it suits a rock setting surprisingly well.

Interesting to see that Heber married the niece-by-marriage of the Sanskrit scholar Sir William Jones, well before he himself had anything to do with India; and that he was the son-in-law of a politically persecuted cleric, William Davies Shipley. /history lesson

[tree_and_leaf]

It makes more sense in the context of the hymn, but I agree with you, nonetheless:

By cool Siloam's shady rill
how fair the lily grows!
How sweet the breath, beneath the hill,
of Sharon's dewy rose!

Lo! such the child whose early feet
the oaths of peace have trod,
whose secret heart, with influence sweet,
is upward drawn to God.

By cool Siloam's shady rill
the lily must decay;
the rose that blooms beneath the hill
must shortly fade away.

O thou, whose infant feet were found
within thy Father's shrine,
whose years with changeless virtue crowned,
were all alike divine.

Dependent on thy bounteous breath,
we seek thy grace alone,
in childhood, manhood, age, and death
to keep us still thine own.