But something struck me when I saw the prayer book's rendition of the carol. It did something that many hymnals and recordings do: it takes the second half of the first stanza and turns it into a thrice-repeated chorus for all the stanzas:
This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
Haste, haste to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
While the repeating of this chorus is a wonderful way to make the song memorable (even my young daughter can probably sing it by heart), it creates a potentially costly trade-off: this "chorus" often supplants the following two sections.
Nail, spear, shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you;
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
and
Raise, raise the song on high:
The Virgin sings her lullaby;
Joy! Joy, for Christ is born,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
So, what's the possible trade-off? By placing the aforementioned "chorus" in place of the first one - about the cross - we repeat a worthy song of praise, but neglect His reason for coming; He didn't come to be adored in a manger, but to suffer for the Father's glory, for the salvation of humanity, and to make all things new by canceling the curse of sin and death. Those four lines beginning with "Nails, spear..." are the only place in this carol that specifically speak of this (and one of the most clearly-stated places in all of Christmas music past or present), so removing it takes away the painful purpose of the Incarnation.
And then, sadly, by choosing to follow this "chorus" pattern, not only do we remove the foreshadowing of the cross, but what are also the most delightful word-pictures in the carol: "... The Virgin sings her lullaby... Joy! joy for Christ is born..."
It's an irony and it speaks as a microcosmic picture of Christmas: If we remove the hard truth of Holy Week and Good Friday, we also lose much of the real Joy that the Christ Mass was intended to point to: the overwhelming joy of Christ's overcoming death and bringing eternal life to all who will call upon Him.
It's an irony, and one that can be avoided; the beauty of a lot of these hymns is that there's a repetition in the rhythm that allows for shifting around of words. For example, one could still use the aforementioned "chorus", and add the supplanted parts as as two more stanzas - or even (as I'm going to show below) as a "chorus 2" and "chorus 3" (if you like), respectively. Like so:
1. What Child is this who, laid to rest,
On Mary's lap is sleeping;
Whom angels greet with anthem sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?
Chorus 1:
2. Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian, fear for sinners here;
The silent Word is pleading.
(four lines of instrumental, followed by)
Chorus 2:
Nail, spear, shall pierce Him through,
On Mary's lap is sleeping;
Whom angels greet with anthem sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?
Chorus 1:
This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
Haste, haste to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
2. Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian, fear for sinners here;
The silent Word is pleading.
(Chorus 1)
(four lines of instrumental, followed by)
Chorus 2:
Nail, spear, shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you;
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
3. So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh;
Come, peasant, king, to own Him.
The King of kings salvation brings;
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.
(Chorus 1)
Chorus 3:
Raise, raise the song on high:
Come, peasant, king, to own Him.
The King of kings salvation brings;
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.
(Chorus 1)
Chorus 3:
Raise, raise the song on high:
The Virgin sings her lullaby;
Joy! Joy, for Christ is born,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
Anyway, it might be new, deeper approach to a great carol. Merry Christmas!
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