TTT-Himnaro Cigneta ‎#174d

174d. Ho eta urbo Betlehem'

1. Ho eta urbo Betlehem'! Vi kuŝas en trankvil'
En paco de sensonĝa dorm' sub milda stela bril'.
Sed brilas tra la nokto eterna lumradi' :
L' esperoj de la tuta mond' sin turnas nun al vi.

2. Maria naskis Kriston ; kaj supre anĝelar'
Kun miro ame gardas lin, dum dormas la homar'.
Matenaj steloj, kantu la naskon kun fier'!
Al Dio estu gloro nun, kaj paco sur la ter'.

3. En trankvileco kaj silent' okazis lia ven' ;
Kaj same al la homa kor' doniĝas ĉiu ben'.
Ne aŭdas ni la venon ; sed al la peka mond',
Se oni nur akceptos lin, li venos je respond'.

4. Ho Sankta Beb' el Betlehem'! Ni preĝas el la kor':
Naskiĝu vi jam nun en ni kaj pekon pelu for.
La sankta anĝelaro ĝojegas en ĉiel' ;
Ho venu kaj restadu nun kun ni, Emanuel'!

Text Information

• First Line: Ho eta urbo Betlehem'
• Title: Ho eta urbo Betlehem'
• English Title: O Little Town of Bethlehem
• Author: Phillips Brooks (1868)
• Translator: W. Harvey
• Scripture:
  Matthew 2:6
• Topic: Christmas
• Source: HE 34

Tune Information

• Name: EPHRATAH
• Composer: Uzziah Christopher Burnap

Tune Information:

A Note on the Tunes

Redner's tune (St. Louis) is the original one and in the United States still the most frequent and customary melody for the text. Lewis Redner was the organist in the church where Phillips Brooks was priest. They say that Brooks wrote the poem and wanted to use it in a Christmas service, but didn't have a suitable tune, so at the last moment he turned to Redner, who composed the music on the evening preceding the service - and Brooks baptized the tune "St. Louis" to surreptitiously praise Redner. (In English "Lewis" and "Louis" sound alike, and St. Louis is not only the name of a saint, but also the name of a city in Missouri.) Incidentally, the Zamenhof's Birthday song "Ho Zamenhof, vi foras nun" by DoKo Jordan is intended to be sung to the present tune.

In Britain the first (and in the USA the second) tune for the text is Forest Green. A third melody is Christmas Carol, composed by H. Walford Davies; that one is recommended by Himnaro Esperanta and in Britain it seems to be in competition with Forest Green, but in the United States I have only found it in the 1932 Christian Science Hymnal. A fourth possibility, according to HE, is Bethlehem, probably tghe one by Gottfried W. Fink, for which I give a MIDI here. Fifthly and last ;-), The Cyber Hymnal proposes Ephratah.