Christmas Day

All hail, happy day, When enrobed in our clay

Author: Anonymous (1790)
Published in 48 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Audio files: MIDI, Recording

Representative Text

All hail! happy day,
When enrob'd in our clay,
The redeemer appear'd upon earth:
How can we refrain
For to join the glad strain,
And to hail our Immanuel's birth?

2 How boundless that love,
First begotten above,
And through Jesus to sinners made known
Lift, lift up the voice,
And exulting rejoice,
For Jehovah to earth is come down.

3 Ye angels of God,
Sound his praises abroad,
And acknowledge him JAH, the I am:
We also will join
In a hymn so divine,
Giving glory to God and the Lamb.

4 To Christ we will sing,
As our High Priest and King,
And our Prophet to teach us the road
But more than all this,
Fro Almighty he is,
And we own him our crucify'd God!

5 To Jesus's praise
Let us spend all our days,
For 'tis he our surety has stood:
He sojourned below,
That his mercy might flow,
And he purchas'd our pardon with blood!

6 O may the return
Of this once blessed morn,
Be for ever remember'd with joy;
Sweet accents of praise,
All our voices shall raise,
Hallelujahs shall be our employ.

7 Let echo prolong,
The harmonious song,
Hallelujahs again and again:
He kindles the fire,
Whom the nations desire;
And to him we devote the glad strain.

8 Blest Jesus, while we
Pay our tribute to thee,
Let us worship, admire, and adore,
Accept as thy crown,
What before was thy own,
Hallelujahs and praise evermore.

Source: A Pocket Hymn Book: designed as a constant companion for the pious, collected from various authors (9th ed.) #CCXI

Author: Anonymous

In some hymnals, the editors noted that a hymn's author is unknown to them, and so this artificial "person" entry is used to reflect that fact. Obviously, the hymns attributed to "Author Unknown" "Unknown" or "Anonymous" could have been written by many people over a span of many centuries. Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: All hail, happy day, When enrobed in our clay
Title: Christmas Day
Author: Anonymous (1790)
Meter: 11.9.11.9
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

Very likely not by Charles Wesley. None of the stanzas found in a search of Wesley's poetry at Duke University (1); nor are any of the stanzas in Osborn 1868-1872 (2) nor Kimbrough 2017 (3). First appearance of the hymn is in Coke and Asbury 1790 (4).
(1) https://divinity.duke.edu/initiatives/cswt/
(2) Osborn, George. 1868-1872. The poetical works of John and Charles Wesley: Reprinted from the originals, with the last corrections of the authors; Together with the poems of Charles Wesley, not before published. London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office. Volume 1, 1868. Volume 2, 1869. Volume 3, 1869. Volume 4, 1869. Volume 5, 1869. Volume 6, 1870. Volume 7, 1870. Volume 8, 1870. Volume 9, 1870. Volume 10, 1871. Volume 11, 1871. Volume 12, 1871. Volume 13, 1872.
(3) Kimbrough, S T, Jr. 2017. Alphabetical index to the first lines of all stanzas of poetry by John and Charles Wesley. Eugene, OR: Pickwick.
(4) Coke, Thomas, and Francis Asbury. 1790. Pocket hymn-book, designed as a constant companion to the pious, Eleventh Edition. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Pritchard and Hall.

Timeline

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #12291
  • PDF (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer Score (NWC)
Harmonia Americana: containing a concise introduction to the grounds of music; with a variety of airs, suitable fore divine worship and the use of musical societies; consisting of three and four parts #85a
  • PDF (PDF)
  • MusicXML (created with MuseScore) (XML)

Instances

Instances (1 - 48 of 48)

A Collection of Hymns Adapted to the Use of the Methodist Episcopal Church #d15

A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in America #d12

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A Collection of Hymns for the use of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in America #115

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A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the Methodist Episcopal Church #487

A Collection of Hymns for the use of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Rev. with a Supplement #d16

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A Collection of Hymns #487

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A Pocket hymn book, designed as a constant companion for the pious #CCXI

TextPage Scan

A Pocket Hymn Book #CCXI

TextPage Scan

A Pocket hymn-book, designed as a constant companion for the pious #CCXI

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A Pocket Hymn-book #211

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A Pocket Hymn-Book #CCXI

Compilation of Hymns for the Use of the Churches of the Christian Union #d13

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David's Harp #250

TextScoreAudioPage Scan

Harmonia Americana #85a

Hymns for the Use of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Impr. ed. #d12

Hymns for the Use of the Brethren in Christ #d9

Jubilant Voices #d5

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New Hymn and Tune book #383d

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New Hymn and Tune Book #383d

Pocket Hymn Book of the Methodist Episcopal Church #d8

Pocket Hymn Book, Designed as a Constant Companion. 25th ed. #d8

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Song Garland; or, Singing for Jesus #105a

Supplement to Watts #d11

The African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymn Book #d12

The American Repository of Sacred Music #d4

The Boston One-Line Psalmist #d2

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The Brethren Hymnal #118

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The Christian's Harp #128

TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #12291

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The Heart and Voice #357b

The Jubilee Songster #d6

The Methodist Pocket Hymn Book. 35th ed. #d8

The Methodist Pocket Hymn Book. Rev. #d8

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The Methodist Pocket Hymn-book, revised and improved #CCLXXV

The Old Baptist Hymn Book #d7

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The Revivalist #81

The Sabbath Chimes #d6

The Sacred Lyre #d12

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The Timbrel #60

The Union Harp and Revival Chorister. Rev ed. #d12

The Victory #d6

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The Young People's Chorister #140

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Vestry Harmonies #14b

Exclude 47 pre-1979 instances
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