Scripture Verse

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Luke 2:11–12

Introduction

Words & Mu­sic: Re­nais­sance car­ol (🔊 pdf nwc). Trans­lat­ed from French to Eng­lish by E. Cuth­bert Nunn (1868–1914).

Alternate arr­ange­ment, by Mi­chael Lon­ne­ke, 2004 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Nunn (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Bring a torch, Jean­ette, Isa­bel­la
Bring a torch, come swift­ly and run.
Christ is born, tell the folk of the vil­lage,
Jesus is sleep­ing in His cra­dle,
Ah, ah, beau­ti­ful is the mo­ther,
Ah, ah, beau­ti­ful is her son.

Hasten now, good folk of the vil­lage,
Hasten now, the Christ Child to see.
You will find Him asleep in a man­ger,
Quietly come and whis­per soft­ly,
Hush, hush, peace­ful­ly now He slum­bers,
Hush, hush, peaceful­ly now He sleeps.

illustration
The Birth of Christ
Carl H. Bloch (1834–1890)