The Cyber Hymnal ‎#9707

9707. Christ Is Come

1 Christ is come, is come to earth!
Low the manger, mean His birth;
Son of David, royal seed,
None of David’s children heed:
Only shepherds wondering gaze,
Only strangers seek His face.

2 Yet He comes of Heaven adored,
Hosts of angels chant Him Lord!
Heaven’s high arches swell the strain,
Jesus comes on earth to reign:
Wake ye, mortals, wake and see
Love’s divinest mystery!

3 Lo! above, the wondrous star,
Guiding earnest feet afar,
Shining clear, with cold, pale beams,
O’er the humble stable gleams;
Only wise men see its light
Struggling through the murky night.

4 Gay and worldly see no sign
In the infant face divine;
Child of way-bound traveler there,
Why should gay and courtly care?
Yet the wise men bend the knee,
In the babe Messiah see.

5 Haughty soul and lofty brow
May not at the manger bow;
Insentient pleasure may not wait
Upon the Stranger’s mean estate;
Yet to waiting souls the morn
Joyful hails the Savior born.

6 So He cometh, ever comes,
To our hearts and to our homes,
Unobserved of pomp and pride,
To the contrite sinner’s side;
Smiles on those who eager seek,
Makes His advent to the meek.

Text Information

• First Line: Christ is come, come to earth!
• Title: Christ Is Come
• Author: Francis Bottome
• Meter: 77.77.77
• Language: English
• Source: Songs from the Parsonage (Cambridge, MA: University Press, 1894)
• Copyright: Public Domain
• Notes: Alternate tune: DIX, Konrad Kocher, 1838

Tune Information

• Name: BETTER LAND
• Composer: William Fiske Sherwin (1872)
• Meter: 77.77.77
• Key: A♭ Major
• Source: Christian Songs (New York: Biglow & Main Company, 1872)
• Copyright: Public Domain