Rod of the Root of Jesse

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Rod of the Root of Jesse

Translator: John Mason Neale (1862); Author: Cosmas, the Melodist (760)
Tune: SCHROEDER (Schroeder)
Published in 3 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

Rod of the Root of Jesse,
Thou, Flower of Mary born,
From that thick shady mountain

Cam’st glorious forth this morn:
Of her, the ever Virgin,
Incarnate wast Thou made,
The immaterial Essence,
The GOD by all obeyed!
Glory, LORD, Thy servants pay
To Thy wondrous might today!

137

The Gentiles’ expectation,
Whom Jacob’s words foretell,
Who Syria’s pride shalt vanquish,
Samaria’s pride shalt quell;
Thou from the Root of Judah
Like some fair plant dost spring,
To turn old Gentile error
To Thee, its GOD and King!
Glory, LORD, Thy servants pay
To Thy wondrous might today!

In Balaam’s ancient vision
The Eastern seers were skilled,
They marked the constellations,
And joy their spirits filled:
For Thou, bright Star of Jacob,
Arising in Thy might,
Didst call these Gentiles first-fruits
To worship in Thy light.
They in holy reverence bent,
Gifts acceptable present.

138

As on a fleece descending
The gentle dews distil,
As drops the earth that water,
The Virgin didst Thou fill.
For Media, leagued with Sheba,
Falls down and worships Thee:
Tarshish and Ethiopia,
The Isles and Araby.15151st ed. reverses the order of the previous two pairs of lines.
Glory, LORD, Thy servants pay
To Thy wondrous might today!

Hymns of the Eastern Church, 1866

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Translator: John Mason Neale

John M. Neale's life is a study in contrasts: born into an evangelical home, he had sympathies toward Rome; in perpetual ill health, he was incredibly productive; of scholarly temperament, he devoted much time to improving social conditions in his area; often ignored or despised by his contemporaries, he is lauded today for his contributions to the church and hymnody. Neale's gifts came to expression early–he won the Seatonian prize for religious poetry eleven times while a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, England. He was ordained in the Church of England in 1842, but ill health and his strong support of the Oxford Movement kept him from ordinary parish ministry. So Neale spent the years between 1846 and 1866 as a warden of Sackvi… Go to person page >

Author: Cosmas, the Melodist

Cosmas, St., The Melodist. (Died circ. A.D. 760.) The second among the Greek ecclesiastical poets. He was adopted by the father of St. John of Damascus, and educated with him by a Sicilian monk also named Cosmas, who had been redeemed from slavery by his adopted father. The two foster-brothers retired together to St. Sabas, and there stimulated, assisted and vied witii one another in the composition of hymns. It is not certain whether some of the Canons, Triodia, and Idiomela under the name of Cosmas may not be the work of the elder Cosmas. He was elected Bishop of Maiuma in A.D. 743, and is commemorated in the Greek Calendar on Oct. 14. The story of Cosmas the elder is beautifully told in Milman's Lat. Christ., vol. ii. 364. Daniel, vol. i… Go to person page >

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Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	Rod of the Root of Jesse
Author:	Cosmas, the Melodist (760)
Translator:	John Mason Neale (1862)
Meter:	7.6.7.6.7.6.7.6.7.7
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain