Christmas
Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming
- Words:
- verses 1-2, 15th Century German. Translated by Theodore Baker, 1894.
- Music:
- 'Es Ist Ein Ros Entsprungen (Rhythmic)' German from Köln, 1599.
- Setting:
- Michael Praetorius, 1609.
- Metre:
- 7 6 7 6 6 7 6
- 1Lo, how a Rose e'er bloomingfrom tender stem hath sprung!Of Jesse's lineage coming,as men of old have sung.It came, a flow'ret bright,amid the cold of winter,When half spent was the night.
- 2Isaiah 'twas foretold it,the Rose I have in mind;With Mary we behold it,the virgin mother kind.To show God's love aright,she bore to men a Savior,When half spent was the night.
- 3The shepherds heard the storyproclaimed by angels bright,How Christ, the Lord of glorywas born on earth this night.To Bethlehem they spedand in the manger found Him,As angel heralds said.
- 4This Flow'r, whose fragrance tenderwith sweetness fills the air,Dispels with glorious splendorthe darkness everywhere;True Man, yet very God,from sin and death He saves us,And lightens ev'ry load.
- 5O Savior, Child of Mary,who felt our human woe,O Savior, King of glory,who dost our weakness know;Bring us at length we pray,to the bright courts of Heaven,And to the endless day!
More sheet music
Scripture
Topics
In the hymnals
- The words are in 124 hymnals indexed by Hymnary.org. Their history →
- The tune, Es Ist Ein Ros Entsprungen (Rhythmic), is in 2 hymnals. The tune →
Words, music and setting are in the public domain. The score is from the Open Hymnal Project (Brian J. Dumont), which places its own work in the public domain. Further sheet music is from PDHymns.com. The piano is the FluidR3 General MIDI sound font (MIT licence). How many hymnals print a hymn, and when it was written, is from Hymnary.org.