1 Now, the blessèd Dayspring
Cometh from on high;
Now, the worlds' Redeemer,
To her aid, draws nigh;
Bearer of the tidings,
From the throne of light,
To a lowly maiden,
Speeds an angel bright.
2 In the chosen daughter
Of King David's line,
God fulfils the promise
Of King Ahaz' sign:
Gabriel hath spoken;
Mary hath believed;
And, behold a virgin
Hath a Son conceived.
3 Though He take our nature
Linked to low estate,
Though He stoop to suffer,
Yet shall He be great;
Though His crown and sceptre
Be of thorn and reed,
His shall be the kingdom
Sworn to David's Seed.
4 Light to light the Gentiles
Bending at His throne;
Glory to His people
When His sway they own;
He shall reign forever,
King of kings confessed,
And all tribes and kindreds
Shall, in Him, be blest.
Amen.
The Hymnal: revised and enlarged as adopted by the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America in the year of our Lord 1892
Thomson, Mary Ann, wife of Mr. John Thomson, Librarian of the Free Library, Philadelphia, was born in London, England, December 5, 1834. She has written about forty hymns, which have appeared mostly in the Churchman, New York, and in the Living Church, Chicago. Four of her hymns are found in the Protestant Episcopal Hymnal, 1892. Of the origin of the missionary hymn by Mrs. Thomson which is found in our Hymnal she writes as follows:
I wrote the greater part of the hymn, "O Zion, haste," in the year 1868. I had written many hymns before, and one night, while I was sitting up with one of my children who was ill of typhoid fever, I thought I should like to write a missionary hymn to the tune of the hymn beginning "Hark, hark, my soul, angelic… Go to person page >
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