A babe is born

Settings by composers

• Clifford Boyd SSAA
• Gustav Holst SATB

Texts and Translations

English text

1  A babe is born all of a may,
To bring salvation unto us.
To him we sing both night and day:
Veni Creator Spiritus.

2  At Bethlehem, that blessed place,
The child of bliss now born he was;
And him to serve God give us grace,
O lux beata Trinitas.

3  There came three kings out of the East,
To worship the King that is so free,
With gold and myrrh and frankincense,
A solis ortus cardine.

4  The herdes[?] heard an angel’s cry,
A merry song then sungen he.
‘Why are ye so sore aghast?’
Jam ortus solis cardine.

5  The angels came down with one cry,
A merry song then sungen they
In the worship of that child:
Gloria tibi Domine