"appears in cycles of the ""Life of Christ"", where it follows the Deposition of Christ or the Lamentation of Christ. Since the Renaissance, it has sometimes been combined or conflated with one of these. Notable individual works with articles include: The African-American spiritual ""Were you there?"" has the line ""Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?"" while the Christmas carol ""We Three Kings"" includes the : <poem> Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume Breathes a life of gathering gloom; Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying, Sealed in the stone cold tomb. </poem> John Wilbur Chapman's hymn ""One Day"" interprets"
"headed with ""Christmas Day for Dolly"", was first published in Harrop's ""Manchester Mercury"" in 1746. Although Byrom is probably best remembered for this Christmas carol, he was regarded by his contemporaries as a poet and a literary man. Most of his poems, the best-known of which is ""My spirit longeth for Thee"", were religious in tone. He is also remembered for his epigrams and, above all, his coinage of the phrase ""Tweedledum and Tweedledee"" (in connection with a dispute about the merits of the two composers, Handel and Bononcini). Byrom did not lead an ordinary provincial life. He was a"
"Christmas carol A Christmas carol (also called a noël, from the French word meaning ""Christmas"") is a carol (song or hymn) whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas, and which is traditionally sung on Christmas itself or during the surrounding holiday season. Christmas carols may be regarded as a subset of the broader category of Christmas music. The first known Christmas hymns may be traced to 4th-century Rome. Latin hymns such as ""Veni redemptor gentium"", written by Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, were austere statements of the theological doctrine of the Incarnation in opposition to Arianism. ""Corde natus ex Parentis"""
"Your Divinity, takes upon herself the duty of a myrrh-bearer. With lamentations she brings you myrrh in anticipation of your entombment. ""Woe to me!"" she cries, ""for me night has become a frenzy of licentiousness, a dark and moonless love of sin. Receive the fountain of my tears, O You who gathers into clouds the waters of the sea. Incline unto me, unto the sighings of my heart, O You who bowed the heavens by your ineffable condescension. I will wash your immaculate feet with kisses and dry them again with the tresses of my hair; those very feet at"
"The Twelve Days of Christmas (song) ""The Twelve Days of Christmas"" (Roud 68) is an English Christmas carol that enumerates in the manner of a cumulative song a series of increasingly grand gifts given on each of the twelve days of Christmas (the twelve days that make up the Christmas season, starting with Christmas Day). The song, published in England in 1780 without music as a chant or rhyme, is thought to be French in origin. ""The Twelve Days of Christmas"" has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 68. The tunes of collected versions vary. The standard tune now"
"annually printed"" that were in the author's possession. The complete words of the carol are found in a book review dating from 1849, in which the reviewer suggested using the text of ""The Holly and the Ivy"" in place of one of the readings found in the book under discussion. The anonymous reviewer introduced the lyrics of carol thus: The words of the carol were included in Sylvester's 1861 collection ""A Garland of Christmas Carols"" where it is claimed to originate from ""an old broadside, printed a century and a half since"" [i.e. around 1711]: Husk's 1864 ""Songs of the"
"In the Bleak Midwinter ""In the Bleak Midwinter"" is a Christmas carol based on a poem by the English poet Christina Rossetti. The poem was published, under the title ""A Christmas Carol"", in the January 1872 issue of ""Scribner's Monthly"". The poem first appeared set to music in ""The English Hymnal"" in 1906 with a setting by Gustav Holst. Harold Darke's anthem setting of 1911 is more complex and was named the best Christmas carol in a poll of some of the world's leading choirmasters and choral experts in 2008. <poem> In the bleak mid-winter Frosty wind made moan; Earth"
"collected works, of which the last begins: Poetic titles from the 19th century include the Irish Arthur Geoghegan's ""The Old Miser and Mammon: an Incident Poem"" (Newry 1818) and Frederick Featherstone's ""New Christmas Poem entitled The Miser's Christmas Eve"" (1893). There was also an anonymous didactic poem titled ""The Miser"" (London 1831). Although miserly behaviour is referenced during the course of its 78 pages, the real focus there is the attraction of money in all its manifestations. In the realm of popular poetry, there were a range of narrative broadside ballads concerning misers from the 17th century onward. Some of"
"myrrh. The English translation uses a traditional Algonquian name, Gitchi Manitou, for God, which is not in the original Wyandot version. The original lyrics are now sometimes modified to use imagery accessible to Christians who are not familiar with aboriginal Canadian cultures. The song remains a common Christmas hymn in Canadian churches of many Christian denominations. It is also found in several American hymnals, including ""The Hymnal 1982"" of The Episcopal Church (#114), The United Methodist Hymnal (#244) and Evangelical Lutheran Worship (#284). Because the melody spans a modest range, it is ideally suited to instruments that have a limited"
"Corpus Christi Carol Corpus Christi Carol is a Middle or Early Modern English hymn (or carol), first found by an apprentice grocer named Richard Hill in a manuscript written around 1504. The original writer of the carol remains anonymous. The earliest surviving record of the piece preserves only the lyrics and is untitled. It has survived in altered form in the folk tradition as the Christmas carol ""Down In Yon Forest"". The structure of the carol is six stanzas, each with rhyming couplets. The tense changes in the fourth stanza from past to present continuous. One hypothesis about the meaning"
"Lullay, mine liking ""Lullay, mine liking"" is a Middle English lyric poem or carol of the 15th century which frames a narrative describing an encounter of the Nativity with a song sung by the Virgin Mary to the infant Christ. The refrain is an early example of an English lullaby; the term ""lullaby"" is thought to originate with the ""lu lu"" or ""la la"" sound made by mothers or nurses to calm children, and ""by"" or ""bye bye"", another lulling sound (for example in the similarly ancient Coventry Carol). There are a number of surviving medieval English verses associated with"
"Carols"" of 1912. Gerald Finzi, with permission from Vaughan Williams and Mrs Leather, also used the melody as the basis of his 1925 choral work ""The Brightness of This Day"", substituting the text for a poem by George Herbert. The truth sent from above ""The truth sent from above"" is an English folk carol of unknown authorship usually performed at Christmas. Collected in the early part of the 20th century by English folk song collectors in Shropshire and Herefordshire, a number of variations on the tune exist, but the text remains broadly similar. The first line of the carol is"
"to be had from the verse, ""‘A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved’"" (), that would negate the statement of him who says it is not musk, while our Rabbi Haye [Gaon], of blessed memory, in the commentary on [Tractate] ""Shabbath"", says that it is the gum resin called in Arabic ""‘lūbenī rahbān’"" (= the frankincense of monks), which is a gum resin that has a fragrant smell, and which explanation is altogether fitting with, ""‘I have gathered my myrrh’"" ().” Maimonides' view is, therefore, seen as being a fringe view for the reasons given above. Rabbi Avraham ben David"
"Green Groweth the Holly ""Green Groweth the Holly"", also titled ""Green Grow'th the Holly"", is a 16th century English poem and Christmas carol written by King Henry VIII of England. The carol was written as ""a carol for three voices"". During Medieval times, carols had started to develop a separate style from ordinary Christian hymns though not necessarily performed just at Christmas. King Henry VIII was a Renaissance monarch who was educated in music and several languages. The King wrote ""Green Groweth the Holly"" as his own take on the developing Christmas carol style. It is not known exactly when"
"The lyrics of the carol are taken from a poem written by Dix called ""The Manger Throne"". The part of the poem that was utilized as the song's lyrics consists of three stanzas in total. The first verse poses a rhetorical question in the first half, with the response coming in the second half. The second verse contains another question that is answered, while the final verse is a universal appeal to everyone urging them ""to accept Christ"". The carol's melody has been described as ""soulful"", ""haunting and beautiful"" in nature. The context of the carol centres around the Adoration"
"in the Arabic ""murr"", the Hebrew ""mōr"", and the Aramaic ""mūrā"", all meaning ""bitter"" as well as referring to the plant. Regarding ""smyrna"", the word is a Greek dialectic form of ""myrrha"". Myrrh in the Bible is referenced as one of the most desirable fragrances, and though mentioned alongside frankincense it is usually more expensive. Several Old Testament passages refer to myrrh. In the Song of Solomon, which according to scholars dates to either the tenth century B.C. as a Hebrew oral tradition or to the Babylonian captivity in the 6th century B.C., myrrh is referenced seven times making the"
"The Holly and the Ivy ""The Holly and the Ivy"" is a traditional British folk Christmas carol. The song is catalogued as Roud Folk Song Index No. 514. The following are taken from Sharp's ""English Folk-Carols"" (1911), the publication that first established the current words and melody: The words of the carol occur in three broadsides published in Birmingham in the early nineteenth century. An early mention of the carol's title occurs in William Hone's 1823 work ""Ancient Mysteries Described"", which includes ""The holly and the ivy, now are both well grown"" among an alphabetical list of ""Christmas Carols, now"
"Huron Carol The ""Huron Carol"" (or ""Twas in the Moon of Wintertime"") is a Canadian Christmas hymn (Canada's oldest Christmas song), written probably in 1642 by Jean de Brébeuf, a Jesuit missionary at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons in Canada. Brébeuf wrote the lyrics in the native language of the Huron/Wendat people; the song's original Huron title is ""Jesous Ahatonhia"" (""""Jesus, he is born""""). The song's melody is based on a traditional French folk song, ""Une Jeune Pucelle"" (""A Young Maid""). The well-known English lyrics were written in 1926 by Jesse Edgar Middleton and the copyright to these lyrics was held"
"version is: Turlough O'Carolan, also called Terence Carolan, born Toirdhealbhach Ó Cearbhalláin was born in 1670, near Nobber, County Meath. He died on March 25, 1738, in Alderford, County Roscommon), one of the last Irish harpist-composers and the only one whose songs survive in both words and music in significant number. There are about 220 tunes provably attributed to him. Come Buy My Nice Fresh Ivy Come Buy My Nice Fresh Ivy is a Christmas carol that originated in Ireland. The music is ""O'Carolan's Lament"" (Irish: ""Uaill-Cuma ui Cearballain""), by Turlough O'Carolan. The lyrics were written by John Keegan (1809–1849)."
"an inebriated old man also in the cell sings a passage from the Irish ballad ""The Rare Old Mountain Dew"", the narrator (MacGowan) begins to dream about the song's female character. The remainder of the song (which may be an internal monologue) takes the form of a call and response between the couple, their youthful hopes crushed by alcoholism and drug addiction, as they reminisce and bicker on Christmas Eve. MacColl's melodious singing contrasts with the harshness of MacGowan's voice, and the lyrics are sometimes bittersweet—sometimes purely bitter: ""Happy Christmas your arse/I pray God it's our last"". The lyrics ""Sinatra"
"form of the carol. The first three verses run, in full, as follows: Subsequent verses follow the same pattern, each adding one new gift and repeating all the earlier gifts so that each verse is one line longer than its predecessor: The earliest known version of the lyrics was published in London under the title ""The Twelve Days of Christmas sung at King Pepin's Ball"", as part of a 1780 children's book, ""Mirth without Mischief"". Subsequent versions have shown considerable variation: For ease of comparison with Austin's 1909 version given above:<br> (a) differences in wording, ignoring capitalisation and punctuation, are"
"Christmas Lullaby Christmas Lullaby is a popular sacred choral composition by John Rutter, a lullaby for Christmas. He wrote his own text, beginning ""Clear in the darkness"", three stanzas with the refrain ""Ave Maria"". Rutter scored the piece for four vocal parts (SATB) and piano, adding other versions. He composed it on a 1989 commission from The Bach Choir for the celebration of the 70th birthday of their conductor David Willcocks. It was first performed at the choir's Christmas concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London, an event that Rutter knew from being a member of the audience as"
"collection of Christmas carols included some version of words and music together, most of them ending with the refrain ""On Christmas Day in the morning"". One of the most popular of these is ""What Child Is This?"", written in 1865 by William Chatterton Dix. In Shakespeare's ""The Merry Wives of Windsor"" (written c. 1597; first published in 1602), the character Mistress Ford refers twice to ""the tune of 'Greensleeves'"", and Falstaff later exclaims: These allusions indicate the song was already well known at that time. <score lang=""lilypond""> \new Staff { </score> Greensleeves ""Greensleeves"" is a traditional English folk song and"
"(on ""Carols for All Seasons""), Bob Rowe, Andreas Scholl, Steeleye Span (on ""Winter""), Wovenhand (on ""Consider the Birds""), Mark Lanegan, and the choir of Clare College, Cambridge. Down in Yon Forest ""Down in Yon Forest"" (or ""Down in Yon Forrest"") is a traditional English Christmas carol dating to the Renaissance era, ultimately deriving from the anonymous Middle English poem known today as the Corpus Christi Carol. The carol has been arranged in modern English by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Nicholas Maw, John Jacob Niles and John Rutter, among others. It has been recorded by artists including Joan Baez (on ""Noël""), Martyn"
"folk melodies, with three further tunes having been collected in Gloucestershire alone . The early nineteenth-century sources do not provide music for the carol. Several late nineteenth-century collections set the words to ""old French carol"" in D minor. Holly, especially the variety found in Europe, is commonly referenced at Christmastime, and is often referred to by the name ""Christ's thorn"". Since medieval times the plant has carried a Christian symbolism, as expressed in this popular Christmas carol ""The Holly and the Ivy"", in which the holly represents Jesus and the ivy represents His mother, the Virgin Mary. Angie Mostellar discusses"
"in the manger. In the third stanza, all are called to revere ""with hearts full of love."" The ""Ave Maria"" returns, this last time with some counterpoint for a climax, but ending in the same soft homophony as before. Christmas Lullaby Christmas Lullaby is a popular sacred choral composition by John Rutter, a lullaby for Christmas. He wrote his own text, beginning ""Clear in the darkness"", three stanzas with the refrain ""Ave Maria"". Rutter scored the piece for four vocal parts (SATB) and piano, adding other versions. He composed it on a 1989 commission from The Bach Choir for the"
"Song of Solomon the passage in the Old Testament referring to myrrh the most, often with erotic overtones. In the New Testament the substance is famously associated with the birth of Christ when the magi presented their gifts of ""gold, frankincense, and myrrh"". Published in 8 A.D. the ""Metamorphoses"" of Ovid has become one of the most influential poems by the Latin writers. The ""Metamorphoses"" showed that Ovid was more interested in questioning how the laws interfered with people's lives than in writing epic tales like Virgil's ""Aeneid"" and Homer's ""Odyssey"". The ""Metamorphoses"" is not narrated by Ovid, but rather"
"God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen is an English traditional Christmas carol. It is in the Roxburghe Collection (iii. 452), and is listed as no. 394 in the Roud Folk Song Index. It is also known as Tidings of Comfort and Joy, and by variant incipits as ""Come All You Worthy Gentlemen""; ""God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen""; ""God Rest Ye, Merry Christians""; or ""God Rest You Merry People All"". It is one of the oldest extant carols, dated to the 16th century or earlier. The earliest known printed edition of the carol is in a broadsheet"
"The First Noel ""The First Noel"" (also written ""The First Noël"" and ""The First Nowell"") is a traditional classical English Christmas carol, most likely from the early modern period, although possibly earlier. ""Noel"" is an Early Modern English synonym of ""Christmas"". ""The First Noel"" is of Cornish origin. Its current form was first published in ""Carols Ancient and Modern"" (1823) and ""Gilbert and Sandys Carols"" (1833), both of which were edited by William Sandys and arranged, edited and with extra lyrics written by Davies Gilbert for ""Hymns and Carols of God"". Today, it is usually performed in a four-part hymn"
"Entre le bœuf et l'âne gris ""Entre le bœuf et l'âne gris"" (""Between the Ox and the Grey Ass"") is a French Christmas carol. One of the oldest extant carols, it has been dated to both the 13th and the 16th centuries. The supposed presence of the two animals at the birth of Jesus may have its origin in the Book of Isaiah chapter 1 verse 3: ""The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider."" <poem>Entre le bœuf et l’âne gris Dort, dort, dort le petit fils"
"the Gospel of Luke, . It is decorated with the motif of the dead thornwood, a symbol of fertility and death, which begins to bloom during pass of Mary with the divine child. The other stanzas circling around the catechetical question and answer format of the mystery of the Incarnation of God. Maria durch ein Dornwald ging """" (English: ""Maria walks amid the thorns"", or ""Mary walked through a wood of thorn"") is a Christmas carol. By origin it was not an advent but a pilgrimage song that initially was spread verbally in the 19th century, starting in the catholic"
"German-language version (""O du fröhliche"", c.1816) became a well-known Christmas carol, with original lyrics by J.D. Falk referring not to the Blessed Virgin Mary, but rather to Jesus himself and his day of birth. In English: <poem style=""margin-left:2em;"">O, how joyfully; O, how merrily Christmas comes with its grace divine. Grace again is beaming; Christ the world redeeming. Hail, ye Christians, hail the joyous Christmas time!</poem> Or, in another English-language rendition: <poem style=""margin-left:2em;"">O thou happy, O thou holy, Glorious peace bringing Christmas time. Angel throngs to meet thee; on Thy birth we greet Thee: Hail to Christ, the Son of God,"
"of Carols"". The words of the text ""Now the holly bears a berry,"" the most common and earliest used text for this carol, are as follows: 1. Now the holly bears a berry as white as the milk,<br> And Mary she bore Jesus, who was wrapped up in silk:<br> ""Chorus"": And Mary she bore Jesus our Saviour for to be,<br> And the first tree that's in the greenwood, it was the holly.<br> Holly! Holly!<br> And the first tree that's in the greenwood, it was the holly!<br> 2. Now the holly bears a berry as green as the grass,<br> And Mary"