There are a number of hymns where the lyrics preceded the music by being written as a poem. Once in David’s Royal City was written by Cecil Frances Alexander, and a year after its publication Henry John Gauntlett composed the melody IRBY that we know and love.
Historical footnote: Mrs. Alexander wasn’t a one-hit wonder… she also wrote the hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful!
Once in royal David’s city stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her baby in a manger for his bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ, her little child.
He came down to earth from heaven who is God and Lord of all;
And his shelter was a stable, and his cradle was a stall:
With the poor, and meek, and lowly
Lived on earth our Savior holy.
Jesus is our childhood’s pattern, day by day like us he grew;
He was little, weak, and helpless, tears and smiles like us he knew:
And he feels for all our sadness,
And he shares in all our gladness.
And our eyes at last shall see him, through his own redeeming love,
For that child, so dear and gentle, is our Lord in heaven above:
And he leads his children on
To the place where he has gone.
Not in that poor lowly stable with the oxen standing by
We shall see him, but in heaven, set at God’s right hand on high;
There his children gather round,
Bright like stars, with glory crowned.
Cecil Frances Alexander, 1848
Church Calendar: Christmas
HYMN TUNE: IRBY
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Also available for 6 accompanied handbells and 8 handbells.
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