O Come, Little Children

portrait — Christoph von Schmid
1768–1854

Words: Christoph von Schmid, 1798 (Ihr Kinderlein, kommet, o kommet doch all). His poem Die Kinder bei der Krippe (The Children at the Manger) originally had eight verses and was published in 1811. Schmid included it in his 1818 collection Blüten dem blühenden Alter gewidmet. Translated from German to English by Ella M. Robinson in The Concord Hymnal (Boston, Massachusetts: E. C. Schirmer Music, 1920), page 103, alt.

Music: Adapted from Johann A. P. Schulz, 1790 (🔊 pdf nwc). Schulz wrote this music as a secular song, Wie reizend, wie wonnig (How charming, how pleasant). Around 1832, the melody was published with Schmid’s text in Sechzig deutsche Lieder für dreißig Pfennig (Sixty German songs for thirty pennies) by Friedrich Heinrich Eickhof.

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

O come, little children,
With hurrying feet;
To Bethlehem hasten,
A baby to greet.
God shows His great kindness
On this holy night,
By sending the Christ-child
To bring us delight.

He lies in a manger,
The beautiful Boy,
His mother and father
Bend o’er Him with joy;
Some shepherds kneel praying,
Their hearts full of love;
The song of the angels
Floats down from above.

See, out from the manger
There streams a clear light,
That scatters the darkness
And shines through the night;
The face of the Baby
Who lies in that glow
Is fairer and brighter
Than angels, we know.

O kneel like the shepherds,
Your hands fold in prayer,
Give thanks, little children,
For Jesus so fair;
We’ll join with the angels,
Our voices we’ll raise,
And sing to our Father
A glad song of praise.

Scripture Verse

Introduction

Lyrics