Silent Night! Holy Night!

For Christmas

Words: Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!, Rev. Joseph Mohr, 1816
Translation  A. C. Chapin (1855-1944)

Music: "Stille Nacht," Franz Xaver Gruber (1787-1863), circa 1818

See Notes and Links to Translations of "Stille Nacht"

Source: Carla Wenckebach, A Christmas Book (Wellesley College, 1898), p. 37.

1. Silent night! Holy night!
In the gloom shines a light,
Round the holy mother and child.
Gentle Jesus, in slumber mild
Rest in heavenly peace!

2. Silent night! Holy night!
Shepherds first saw the light.
Hosts of angels singing clear,
Hallelujahs far and near,
Christ the Saviour is born!

3. Silent night! Holy night!
Son of god – O how bright
Love divine in thy smiling face
Shines for us, a dawn of grace,
Dayspring from on high!

Also found in

• The Children's Friend, Volume 11, No. 12 (Salt Lake City: The Deseret News, December, 1912), pp. 619-620.

• Margarethe Müller, Elsbeth: A Story of German Home Life (New York: E. P. Dutton & Company, 1914), p. 277.

Note:

“A. C. Chapin” was possibly Angie Clara Chapin (1855-1944), Professor of Greek, Department of Biblical History, Literature and Interpretation, Wellesley College, Mass. Among Chapin's friends and colleagues at Wellesley was Katherine Lee Bates, most famous for writing "America the Beautiful" and author of the poem “Goody Santa Claus” – the first occurrence of Mrs. Santa Claus – and several other Christmas poems.

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