Did you know this little one
set the stars and lit the sun?
Did you know this child you hold
is the Lord from ages old?
Mary can you see the light
shining in the dark of night?
Sing praises for
the joy of all the earth
has come.
Can you hear the angels’ song
“Glory, glory to our God!”
Shepherds put away your fear
Christ the Lord, your saviour’s here!
Born in Bethlehem this night
a baby boy, your soul’s delight
Sing praises for
the joy of all the earth
has come.
Faithful saints now pass in peace
for your eyes have finally seen
What was promised is fulfilled
Deaf can hear and lame are healed
We have seen His outstretched arm
Saving us from every harm.
Sing praises for
the joy of all the earth
has come.
sar 2012
I really like the last verse. The visit to the temple is not often mentioned at Christmas time and it's a really good moment to bring in. Not a fan of the first verse... I thought, "Mary, did you know?" as I began to read it. Sorry, that might just be me. The middle verse is okay. But I really like the last verse (except for "every harm" - that didn't do it for me either).
ReplyDeleteMy niggle's in the middle verse - having seen the shepherds addressed in line 3, the parallel has me wondering whether Christ needed to be told a saviour had arrived... Not easy to get something that scans with all those ideas in line 4, but perhaps lose one of the terms to add clarity? I'd be tempted to get PP to allow you an extra syllable in that line so as to have 'your saviour, Christ the Lord, is/he's here'
ReplyDeleteThe really clever thing about v. 3 is the vague reference - so it works just as well for Simeon and Anna as it does for old Nancy sitting in the second pew. Lovely stuff. A Chrissy song that's good for seniors!
Just running through recent songs for future use, and came across this one again.
DeleteBy way of update: old Nancy went home at Christmas. Kind of sweet to rediscover my reference to her in this context!
Deb - I like 'Mary did you know!' Glad you like v3. I love the story of Anna and Simeon.
ReplyDeleteAnthony - Do you really think people will think it's saying that?
It has a tune. We're pleased with it.
I really must get used to this threaded reply thing...
DeleteWell, v. 3 is not your standard carol fare - so people will either go 'huh?' if they're not Christians, or have to do a little bit of thinking to remember S & A - as Deb says, most of the time those two get left out (not when I'm around!! One of my most used passages :)
ReplyDeleteSo, thinking with my service leader's hat on, I've got options - I can just link it to the story of S & A, or I can make use of the vagueness to define S & A as types of the faithful-old-saint category, and therefore move the song from just being 'in the carols book' with all the rest to being one that speaks into the present more directly.
As I say, coming from a town that's 30% retired, I'll be looking very hard at getting this into my carols rotation. So you and PP have about 6 months to get sheet music and recording out, or I'll come knocking on your door...!
I love it. Wonderful words.
ReplyDeleteReally wonderful.
Mx
Very nice! I particularly love the third verse reference to Simeon..
ReplyDeleteI like it too. But "every harm" didn't do it for me either (snap, Deb!). Couldn't really work out why, it seemed a bit of a harsh word, maybe?
ReplyDeleteWas there a reason for choosing "Did you know" rather than "Do you know" in the first verse? I suppose it doesn't really matter but to me "do" seems a little easier to sing...
Another fan of the temple reference in Verse 3 too.
Is the aim for it to be out for this Christmas??
I really like it. It's very visual - when you read it you can see the scenes and it captures some of the intimacy of the nativity stories.
ReplyDeleteNiggles:
The rhyme structure breaks down in the first two lines of the second and third verses, and also in the third and fourth lines of the final verse although you have a half rhyme there so probably can get away with it. Not sure how much this matters. Maybe unrhyme the first verse?
I differ from Deb on the third verse - not that I dislike it in itself but after two and a half verses tightly focused on the birth and infancy scenes it skips to adulthood. I'd be looking for another picture from the nativity stories to put beside the temple visit.