A Staid British Hymn Crosses the Atlantic and Becomes a Rollicking American Folk Favorite

What started out as a beautiful but, as far as I’m concerned, a little stuffy, hymn for the Christian church feast day of Epiphany, written by the Anglican bishop Reginald Heber and published in 1811, underwent a sea change after it voyaged to America. It acquired a new tune via the shape-note tradition that was developed in the mid-1830’s and became especially popular in Appalachia. (You can read a bit about shape-note singing in my post A Rich American Tradition in “Hark! I Hear the Harps Eternal”) It also acquired a new first verse, with the original first verse becoming the refrain, at least in some versions. So I’ll start with the newly-purposed refrain:

Brightest and best of the sons/stars/suns of the morning;
Dawn on our darkness and lend us thine aid;
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.

The first question to be asked is, “Who is this person in the first line, or indeed is it a person at all?” Note that there are alternate words given that open up various possibilities; Heber used the word “sons” in his version, but later editors were bothered by the theological implications of that word. Was Heber saying that Christ was only some sort of “first angel” and not in a whole separate category as the second person of the Trinity? And after all, Lucifer (Satan) was referred to as “son of the morning” in the book of Isaiah. Job 38:7 used this wording when describing the creation: “When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” But the use of the alternative word “stars” also ruffled some feathers. Were we being encouraged to worship a star in some sort of pagan astrological way? This concern was perhaps a bit misplaced, as the New Testament book of Revelation quotes Christ himself as saying, “I Jesus . . . am . . . the bright and morning star.” In the end, though, as far as I’m concerned, the whole thing is a bit of a taradiddle. Or perhaps a schemozzle. Because it seems clear that these lines are indeed addressed to a non-living thing, an actual star: the “Star of the East.”  If this verse isn’t addressing the star from the beginning, then asking it for guidance requires a sudden switch in line 3. The speakers of the lines are the Magi themselves, who, we are told, “rejoiced with exceeding great joy” when they saw the star which told them of the “King of the Jews’” birth.

Perhaps I got a little carried away in explaining the refrain, but I find all of this background to be fascinating. Let’s go on to the first actual verse in our version, an anonymous stanza that was added in America:

Hail the bless’d morn, see the great Mediator
Down from the regions of glory descend!
Shepherds go worship the babe in the manger,
Lo, for his guard the bright angels attend.

Whoever wrote this verse had a great sense of contrast. Note the imagery: “the great Mediator”—that is, Christ—descends from the regions of glory and ends up being a baby in the manger, worshipped by shepherds and attended by angels. The author also knew his Bible well, probably thinking of this verse: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (I Timothy 2:5 KJV)

Cold on his cradle the dew-drops are shining,
Low lies his head with the beasts of the stall:
Angels adore him in slumber reclining,
Maker and Monarch and Savior of all.

One commentator has called the images in this verse “strikingly Romantic”; I’d lean more toward “strikingly sugary.” But that’s probably just me. Had I been the person in charge of editorial choices in printing this song, my attitude would have been that if we had verse 2 we didn’t really need verse 3, since the two verses cover the same ground. There is a lot of theology packed into that last line, though, with the recognition of that baby’s role in creation, rulership, and ultimate ability to save humankind.

Say, shall we yield him, in costly devotion,
Odors of Edom and offerings divine?
Gems of the mountain and pearls of the ocean,
Myrrh from the forest or gold from the mine?

Shawn Kirchner, the arranger of the version my own choir has performed, says this about verse 3:  “My favorite phrases are from the third verse. . . . Such a string of images is a delight for the tongue to tell and the ear to hear.”  It’s fun to go through the various items that the Magi brought to the Christ child. “Odors of Edom” (changed to “Fragrance of Edom” in some versions) refers to a region near Israel that was known for exporting balsam, a resin used in fragrances. I’m going to guess that the phrase “offerings divine” refers to frankincense, a substance usually burned in honor of a god. We know for sure that the Magi brought this substance in their offerings and Heber doesn’t mention it elsewhere in the verse. His addition of gems and pearls allows him to imply that the Magi’s gifts were drawn from every region of the earth. Myrrh is specifically mentioned in the Bible as one of the gifts, as is gold.

Vainly we offer each ample oblation,
Vainly with gifts would his favor secure,
Richer by far is the heart’s adoration,
Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.

Kirchner omits this fourth verse from his arrangement, as is common. It’s too bad, though, as this verse finishes the thought that verse 3 began. You’ll note that the previous verse ends with a question mark; Heber wasn’t just cataloging the gifts of the Magi but posing the question “Should we today try to offer the same gifts to Christ?” And the answer given in verse 4 is no. God is not interested in our material gifts but in our worship and prayer. There’s sometimes been a bit of “easy for him to say” about that last line, since Heber came from a very wealthy family. But I don’t think he is specifically referring to those who lack earthly goods; he probably has in mind the “poor in spirit” mentioned in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

One last bit of info on the piece is that it is specifically tied to the Feast of Epiphany, which takes place on January 6, 12 days after Christmas Day. The feast name is taken from the Greek word ἐπιφάνεια, epipháneia, meaning manifestation or appearance. The term is used in connection with the arrival of the Magi because they were the first non-Jews to recognize the identity of the Christ Child. And yes, of course, this period of time is where we get the “12 Days of Christmas.” There’s a huge amount of information to be mined (but not by me in this post) on why this number of days between Christmas and Epiphany became the norm. I’ll include a link at the end of this post to an article that ties in British and American traditions and does a good job of explaining at least some of the tangled ideas.

Here are a couple of performance videos, the first one of Kirchner’s SATB arrangement of the piece. Be sure to keep your eye on the violinist–she’s worth the whole thing!

And here’s a lovely version of Heber’s hymn set to a lesser-known hymn tune–it’s so lovely that I decided to go ahead and use it. Plus you get the organist’s improvisation on the tune as the choir exits the choir loft. Just great!

And here’s the link to the article I mentioned about Appalachian Christmas traditions as they relate to Epiphany”

The Appalachian Tradition of “Old Christmas”

© Debi Simons