Today I sang duing Morning Prayer at the Sunday service. I selected a piece our group sang this season. Called "Before the Paling of the Stars" the lyrics are based on a poem by Christina Rosetti. Music by composer John Boda in 1959 - who was a professor at FSU while I was a student in the University's School of Music. Though I never had him as a professor, I remember seeing him in the halls.
Before the paling of the stars,
Before the winter morn,
Before the earliest cock crow,
Jesus Christ was born:
Born in a stable,
Cradled in a manger,
In the world his hands had made
Born a stranger.
Priest and king lay fast asleep
In Jerusalem;
Young and old lay fast asleep
In crowded Bethlehem;
Saint and angel, ox and ass,
Kept a watch together
Before the Christmas daybreak
In the winter weather.
Jesus on his mother's breast
In the stable cold,
Spotless lamb of God was he,
Shepherd of the fold:
Let us kneel with Mary maid,
With Joseph bent and hoary,
With saint and angel, ox and ass,
To hail the King of Glory.
Before the paling of the stars,
Before the winter morn,
Before the earliest cock crow,
Jesus Christ was born.
Recent Comments