O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, trans. by John M. Neale & Henry S. Coffin (Advent 2020, Week 3)

This post is a continuation of a four-week series on Advent and Hope poetry.  An introduction (and brief rambling) may be read here.  The other posts in this series may be found below.

Week 1: The Coming, by R.S. Thomas
Week 2: “The world is stopp’d,” by Nicole K.
Week 4: “What the Bird Said Early in the Year,” by C.S. Lewis

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
John M. Neale & Henry S. Coffin

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice!  Rejoice!  Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

Rejoice!  Rejoice!  Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
And order all things, far and nigh;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And cause us in her ways to go.

Rejoice!  Rejoice!  Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

O come, Desire of nations, bind
All peoples in one heart and mind;
Bid envy, strife and quarrels cease,
Fill all the world with heaven’s peace.

Rejoice!  Rejoice!  Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!¹

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel was translated from the Latin Veni Emmanuel by John M. Neale and Henry S. Coffin. The song is a reworking of the seven O Antiphons: prayers said each day of the week before Christmas.  Rarely are all the verses of this song sung and the order of the verses often varies, as does the wording.  The verses I chose to include here are from the beloved version my family is accustomed to sing.

Here is a choral rendition of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel sung by the King’s College Choir in Cambridge, England.

Note:

¹O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, translated from the Latin by John M. Neale and Henry S. Coffin with some alterations made by various persons over the centuries.