The Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14
Words: Samuel C. Clarke, in Carols Old and Carols New, by Charles L. Hutchins (Boston, Massachusetts: Parish Choir, 1916), number 284, alt.
Music: G. H. Gregory (🔊 pdf nwc).
If you know Gregory’s full name, or where to get a good photo of him or Clarke (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
A virgin did come
From lowliest home,
And shelter she fain
In a manger would find;
For full was the inn,
And no room was within,
Save where to the stalls
The mute oxen they bind.
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O how wondrous the love
And the deep humility
Of Him who was laid
In the manger for me.
That Babe was a king,
Mystic gifts, lo, they bring,
Sure tokens they were
Of some great one to be;
To Bethlehem led,
Eastern sages have sped
From far the Desire
to see.
Of all nations
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Accomplished their hope,
Their treasures they ope—
Gold, frankincense, myrrh,
To that Infant they brought,
Gifts costly and rare,
Full of meaning they were,
Though not yet unveiled
Were the great truths they taught.
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No tokens of state
Round that royal Babe wait,
Seemed least, and yet
Greatest, of monarchs was He;
In reverence low,
Princely Magi did bow,
As though they divined
All His true dignity.
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