Crown Him with many crown. [Christ the King.] Four hymns are found in common use, each of which opens with this stanza. They are:—
1. By Matthew Bridges, which appeared in his Hymns of the Heart, 2nd ed., 1851, p. 58, in 6 stanzas of 8 lines, and headed, "In capito ejus diademata multa. Apoc. xix. 12." This was repeated in his Passion of Jesus, 1852, p. 62, where the title runs, "Third Sorrowful Mystery, Song of the Seraphs. Apoc. xix. 12." In treatment and expression it has a more than slight resemblance to Kelly's "Look, ye saints, the sight is glorious" (q. v.). With alterations, and sometimes abbreviations, it appeared for congregational use in the People's Hymnal, 1867; Hymns Ancient & Modern, 1868 and 1875; Sarum, 1868; Hymnary, 1872; Hymnal Companion, and others.
2. In the Appendix to the Society for Promoting Christian KnowledgePsalms and Hymns, 1869, there aro 10 stanzas of 4 lines, of which 8 stanzas are from M. Bridges, and 2, i.e. stanzas vii. and viii., "Crown Him the Lord of Might," &c, are by another hand.
3. In S. P. C. K. Church Hymns, 1871, we have a cento based upon Bridges's text, and thus composed, i. Bridges; ii.-iii. Bridges altd.; iv. Rev. G. Thring; v. Bridges altd.; vi. from S. P. C. K. as above; vii. 11. 1-4, Rev. G. Thring; lines 5-8, Bridges.
4. The hymn opening with the same stanza in Thring's Collection, 1882, is practically new, the first stanza and line1 of the 5th being all that have been adopted from M. Bridges. Its original form in which it first appeared was, "Crown Him with crowns of gold." (In the American College Hymnal, N.Y., 1876.) This was in Mr. Thring's Hymns and Sacred Lyrics, 1874, p. 75, that portion of it contained in the Church Hymns, as noted above, having previously appeared in that collection. In 1880, on being transferred to Mr. Thring's Collection, M. Bridges's opening stanza was substituted for the original in order to retain those fine lines:—
"Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns
All music but its own."
A portion of the original hymn is sometimes given in American hymnals as, "Awake, my soul, and sing." It begins with line 5 of stanzas i., and is No. 272 in the Baptist Hymn and Tune Book Philadelphia, 1871
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
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