Scripture Verse

They took palm branches and went out to meet Him, shouting, Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel. John 12:12–13

Introduction

Words: Jean­ette Threl­fall, 1873. First pub­lished in Sun­shine and Sha­dow.

Music: El­la­combe, Ge­sang­buch der Herz­ogl. Wir­tem­ber­gisch­en ka­tho­lisch­en Hof­ka­pel­le (Würt­tem­berg, Ger­ma­ny: 1784). Adapt­ed & har­mo­nized by Will­iam H. Monk in the 1868 ap­pendix to Hymns An­cient and Mo­dern, num­ber 366 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

portrait
William H. Monk (1823–1889)

Lyrics

illustration

Hosanna, loud ho­san­na,
The lit­tle child­ren sang;
Through pil­lared court and tem­ple
The lovely an­them rang.
To Je­sus, who had blessed them
Close fold­ed to His breast,
The child­ren sang their prais­es,
The simp­lest and the best.

From Ol­iv­et they fol­lowed
Mid an ex­ult­ant crowd,
The vic­tor palm branch wav­ing,
And chant­ing clear and loud;
Bright an­gels joined the cho­rus,
Beyond the cloud­less sky,
Hosanna in the high­est,
Glory to God on high!

Fair leaves of sil­ve­ry olive
They strewed up­on the ground,
While Sa­lem’s circ­ling mount­ains
Echoed the joy­ful sound;
The Lord of men and an­gels
Rode on in low­ly state,
Nor scorned that lit­tle child­ren
Should on His bid­ding wait.

Hosanna in the high­est!
That an­cient song we sing,
For Christ is our Re­deem­er,
The Lord of Hea­ven our king.
O may we ev­er praise Him
With heart and life and voice,
And in His bliss­ful pre­sence
Eternally rejoice!