Scripture Verse

A multitude of the heavenly host. Luke 2:13

Introduction

Words: Ano­ny­mous, in Christ­mas Min­strel­sy, by Jo­seph Will­iams (Lon­don & Man­ches­ter, Eng­land: No­vel­lo & Brem­ner, 1864), num­ber 19.

Music: Ken­sing­ton (Gaunt­lett) Hen­ry J. Gaunt­lett, 1864 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know the au­thor, or where to get a good pic­ture of him (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
Henry Gauntlett
(1805–1876)
National Portrait Gallery

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Lyrics

Ye flam­ing hosts en­throned in light,
To Christ your so­lemn an­thems raise;
Return the sound, Heav’n’s sac­red height,
And echo back, ye skies, His praise.

Gaze, ye as­ton­ished na­tions, gaze,
Fix on the Babe your won­der­ing eyes;
Hosannas to the In­fant raise,
And shout your ov­er­whelm­ing joys.

O man! ’tis thou alone who ought
To lead the uni­ver­sal song;
’Twas love to thee the Sav­ior brought,
From yon­der bright ador­ing throng.

Extol your king! ye fa­vored race,
Emmanuel, His name adore;
Fall down and mag­ni­fy His grace,
And praise your God for­ev­er­more.

And thou, my soul, adore thy Lord,
Pay homa­ge to the ho­ly Child;
Salute the meek in­car­nate Word,
Whose glo­ry beams su­preme­ly mild.

Bow low be­fore the in­fant King,
And make thy kind­ling rap­tures known;
Thy rich­est of­fer­ings to Him bring,
And bless the Fa­ther’s eq­ual Son.

illustration