Sing We Now of Christmas
- Renée Coventry
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
Sing We Now of Christmas is the English version of the French Christmas carol Noel Nouvelet, believed to go back as far as the 15th century. However, rarely are all thirteen verses of the carol sung, though they provide a detailed retelling of the nativity story. Traditionally, this song is sung during Epiphany, which begins on Christmas Day and continues for the next twelve days, hence it is often considered a New Year’s carol. One should note that verses 10 and 11 are thought to be referring to Luke, as he gives the most detailed description in Scripture of the nativity, but they are not part of the Gospel accounts, though they do note a Christian theology of heaven and hell as reliant upon the believer’s response to the message. Below, I have included all the verses translated by Hugh Keyte and Andrew Parrott from the Shorter New Oxford Book of Carols. These differ from the traditional version we hear today sung below.
Sing We Now of Christmas
Sing we now of Christmas, Noel, sing we here!
Thank we now our God, and of His goodness tell.
Sing we Noel to greet the newborn King:
Refrain:
Sing we now of Christmas, sing we now Noel!
Waking from sleep, this wonder did I see:
In a garden fair there stood a beauteous tree,
Whereon I spied a rosebud opening.
How my heart rejoiced to see that sight divine,
For with rays of glory did the rose-bud shine,
As when the sun doth rise at break of day.
Then a tiny bird left off its song, to say
Unto certain shepherds: “Haste you now away!
In Bethlehem the Lamb of God you’ll see.”
Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem they found,
Where the ox and ass the Infant did surround,
Who in their manger slept upon the hay.
Then I saw a star which turned the night to day,
Moving ever onward on its shining way,
Leading to Bethlehem, the kings all three.
Gold the first did carry; myrrh the next did bring;
And the third bore incense, the garden perfuming,
So that in paradise, I seemed to dwell.
For forty days a nurse the Child sustained,
Mary then a pair of turtledoves obtained:
In Simeon’s hands she placed this offering.
Simeon saw the Child and lifted up his voice:
“Lo! My God and Savior, in whom I rejoice;
Jesus, the Christ, the glory of Israel!”
Greatly did I marvel Simeon’s words to hear,
Which a priest observed who shortly did appear,
Within a book those words to store away.
He of me demanded: “Dost thou these words believe?
If thou dost assent, the heavens shall thee received;
If thou dost deny, on hell’s great gallows swing!”
I beheld these wonders as on my bed I lay,
Dreaming of a Child all at the break of day:
Jesus of Nazareth I saw in my dreaming.
Twelve are the days that to Noel belong:
Twelve are my verses, so doth end my song;
A day for each verse: a verse for every day.
