There Came Three Kings Ere Break of Day

For Epiphany

Words: Gerald Moultrie (1829-1854)

Music: There Came Three Kings, E. Poppen

Source: O. Hardwig, ed., Wartburg Hymnal (Chicago: Wartburg Publishing House, 1918), Hymn 147

1. There came three kings ere break of day,
All on Epiphany;
Their gifts they bare, both rich and rare,
All, all, Lord Christ, for Thee:
Gold, frankincense, and myrrh are there,
Where is the King? O where? O where?
Where is the King? O where?

2. The star shone brightly overhead,
The air was calm and still,
O'er Bethlehem's field its rays were shed,
The dew lay on the hill:
We see no throne, no palace fair,—
Where is the King? O where? O where?
Where is the King? O where?

3. An old man knelt at a manger low,
A Babe lay in the stall;
The starlight played on the Infant brow,
Deep silence lay o'er all:
A maiden knelt o'er the Babe in prayer,—
There is the King, O there, O there!

Sheet Music by E. Poppen From O. Hardwig, #147
MIDI / Noteworthy Composer / PDF / XML

Sheet Music by Rev. R. F. Smith from Rev. Charles Lewis Hutchins, Carols Old and Carols New (Boston: Parish Choir, 1916), Carol # 35
MIDI / Noteworthy Composer / PDF / XML

Arrangement by R. F. Smith also found in The Parish School Hymnal (Philadelphia: Board of Publication of the United Lutheran Church in America, 1926), #52, which gives the source as Chope's Carols for Use in Church, 1875.

Sheet Music by Rev. R. F. Smith from Rev. Richard R. Chope, Carols For Use In Church (London: William Clowes & Sons, 1894), Carol #123
Same music as Hutchins, #35

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