Summer In Winter

Composer
Difficulty
Moderately Difficult radio_button_checked radio_button_checked radio_button_checked radio_button_checked radio_button_unchecked
Season
Voicing(s)
Category
Instrumental Only?
No
Description

SATB a cappella. Text by Richard Crashaw, from his Hymn to the Holy Nativity (1648).  Rich, sweet, and lush.

Audio
Lyrics

Gloomy night embraced the place
Where the noble Infant lay.
The Babe looked up and showed His face;
In spite of darkness, it was day.
It was Thy day, Sweet! and did rise
Not from the East, but from Thine eyes.

We saw Thee in Thy balmy nest,
Young Dawn of our eternal day!
We saw Thine eyes break from Their East
And chase the trembling shades away.
We saw Thee; and we blessed the sight,
We saw Thee by Thine own sweet light.

Welcome, all Wonders in one sight!
Eternity shut in a span.
Summer to winter, day in night,
Heaven in earth, and God in man.
Great little One! Whose all-embracing birth
Lifts earth to heaven, stoops heaven to earth.