Let All Mortal Flesh
(French Carol, 17th Century)
Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
and with fear and trembling stand;
ponder nothing earthly-minded,
for with blessing in his hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth,
our full homage to demand.
King of kings, yet born of Mary,
as of old on earth he stood,
Lord of lords, in human vesture,
in the body and the blood;
he will give to all the faithful
his own self for heavenly food.
Rank on rank the host of heaven
spreads its vanguard on the way,
as the Light of light descendeth
from the realms of endless day,
that the powers of hell may vanish
as the darkness clears away.
At his feet the six-winged seraph,
cherubim, with sleepless eye,
veil their faces to the presence,
as with ceaseless voice they cry:
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia, Lord Most High!
Is this from #193 in the red Trinity Hymnal? Probably in other hymnals, I found it there. Not knowing a French carol off the top of my head that it would go to, I picked out #216 tune Infant Holy, Infant Lowly to go with the carol you wrote out above, but the last 2 lines must be repeated. I like the repetition, however. Thanks for posting this good hymn! Celeste
ReplyDeleteThis carol was actually performed at the Lessons and Carols concert for the older students at Mars Hill Academy recently, so I do not know in which hymnal it is found. It was such a beautiful concert. I intend to have a month of such delights.
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