STILL THE NIGHT, HOLY THE NIGHT

Words: Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!, Rev. Joseph Mohr, 1816
Translator: Rev. Stopford A. Brooke (1832-1916)

Source: Brooke, Christian Hymns (1881), #54, pp. 45-6, and
Brooke, Christian Hymns (1893), #58, pp. 53-4.

Music "Stille Nacht," by Franz Gruber, 1818
MIDI / Noteworthy Composer / PDF
Original Music: MIDI / Noteworthy Composer / PDF

See Notes and Links to Translations

1. Still the night, Holy the night,
Sleeps the world, yet the light
Shines where Mary watches there,
Her child Jesus sweet and fair.
Sleeping in heavenly rest;
Sleeping in heavenly rest.

2. Still the night, Holy the night,
Shepherds first told aright,
How the Angel-Hallelujah,
Rang so loud from near and far;
Jesus, a Saviour, is born;
Jesus, a Saviour, is born.

3. Still the night, Holy the night,
Little child, O how bright
Love is smiling from thy Face!
Now there strikes the hour of grace;¹
Jesus, our Master, is here;
Jesus, our Master, is here.

Footnote

1. In the 1893 edition of Christian Hymns, this line is changed to "Now strikes sweet the hour of grace."

Note:

Rev. Brooke is often mistakenly given attribution to a similar translation, Still The Night, Holy The Night. Properly speaking, he should be mentioned in the context of having inspired this translation, whose translator is unknown; this adaptation appeared in The Church of Scotland's Church Hymnary (1927), Congregational Praise (1951), and others according to reports that I have read. The first verse of that translation is:

Still the night, Holy the night,
Sleeps the world, hid from sight,
Mary and Joseph in stable bare,
Watch o'er the child, beloved and fair,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.

Brooke's Christian Hymns is available from Google Books.

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