#279: O Little Town of Bethlehem
Jun. 1st, 2020 10:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lutheranhymnsThe rhyme scheme is quite dense, this is something I don't think I realized until I sat down to write a math parody. "Above thy deep and dreamless sleep...The hopes and fears of all the years." The other verses are just as rich. Nice.
The sentence-level grammar is also kind of tricky, it took me a long time to parse verse 2: "For Christ is born of Mary, and, gathered all above//while mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wondering love." "Gathered all above" refers to where the angels are. It's not Christ is a. born of Mary and then b. gathered all above. Who would be gathering Christ all above? Very confusing.
Like Away in a Manger, this also has another melody more familiar to older generations, although that one did not make it into this hymnal.
The sentence-level grammar is also kind of tricky, it took me a long time to parse verse 2: "For Christ is born of Mary, and, gathered all above//while mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wondering love." "Gathered all above" refers to where the angels are. It's not Christ is a. born of Mary and then b. gathered all above. Who would be gathering Christ all above? Very confusing.
Like Away in a Manger, this also has another melody more familiar to older generations, although that one did not make it into this hymnal.
