
1. What star is this, with beams so bright,
Which shame the sun’s less radiant light?
’Tis sent t’ announce a new-born King,
Glad tidings of our God to bring.
2. ’Tis now fulfilled what God decreed:
“From Jacob shall a star proceed”;
And lo! the eastern sages stand
To read in heav’n the Lord’s command.
3. While outward signs the star displays,
An inward light the Lord conveys,
And urges them, with force benign,
To seek the Giver of the sign.
4. Oh, while the star of heav’nly grace
Invites us, Lord, to seek thy face,
May we no more that grace repel,
Or quench that light, which shines so well!
5. To God the Father, God the Son,
And Holy Spirit, Three in One,
May every tongue and nation raise
An endless song of thankful praise!
Source: Hymns and Devotions for Daily Worship #41b
Coffin, Charles, born at Buzaney (Ardennes) in 1676, died 1749, was principal of the college at Beauvais, 1712 (succeeding the historian Rollin), and rector of the University of Paris, 1718. He published in 1727 some, of his Latin poems, for which he was already noted, and in 1736 the bulk of his hymns appeared in the Paris Breviary of that year. In the same year he published them as Hymni Sacri Auctore Carolo Coffin, and in 1755 a complete ed. of his Works was issued in 2 vols. To his Hymni Sacri is prefixed an interesting preface. The whole plan of his hymns, and of the Paris Breviary which he so largely influenced, comes out in his words.
"In his porro scribendis Hymnis non tam poetico indulgendunv spiritui, quam nitoro et pietate co… Go to person page >| First Line: | What star is this, with beams so bright, More lovely than the noon-day light? |
| Latin Title: | Quem stella sole pulchrior |
| Author: | Charles Coffin (1736) |
| Translator: | John Chandler |
| Language: | English |
| Copyright: | Public Domain |
My Starred Hymns