Corde natus ex parentis

Of the Father's heart begotten,
Ere the worlds began to be,
He the Alpha and Omega,
He the source, the ending He,
Of the things that are, that have been,
And that future years shall see,
Evermore and evermore.

By His word was all created;
He commanded and 'twas done;
Earth and sky and boundless ocean
In their threefold order one,
All that sees the moonlight shining,
All that breathes beneath the sun,
Evermore and evermore.

He is found in human nature,
Death and sorrow here to know,
That the race of Adam’s children,
Doomed by law to endless woe,
Shall not wholly die and perish
In the depths of hell below
Evermore and evermore.

O that day forever blessed—
See our God reveal His grace!
When the virgin, by the Spirit,
Bare the Saviour of our race,
And the Babe, the world’s Redeemer,
First displayed His sacred face,
Evermore and evermore.

Psalm Him, O ye highest heavens!
Angel hosts, His praises sing!
Wheresoe’er ye be, ye faithful,
Let your joyous anthems ring!
Every tongue His name confessing,
Let them all in concert ring
Evermore and evermore!

He is here, whom seers and prophets
Chanted of in days gone by,
Whom the greatest of their number
Strained His coming to descry,
They foretold, but now we see Him;
Let the world his praises cry
Evermore and evermore!

Hail! Thou Judge of souls departed;
Hail! of all the living King!
At the Father's right hand seated,
Through His courts Thy praises ring;
Thou shalt soon for all offences
Righteous vengeance earthward bring,
Evermore and evermore.

Thee let age, and Thee let manhood,
Thee let boys in chorus sing;
Thee the matrons and the virgins,
And the children answering:
Let their holy song re-echo,
And their heart its praises bring,
Evermore and evermore!

Christ, to Thee, with God the Father,
And, O Holy Ghost, to Thee,
Hymn and chant with high thanksgiving,
And unwearied praises be:
One in might and One in glory,
One in sovereign majesty
Evermore and evermore.

—Aurelius Prudentius
Composite and altered translation from John M. Neale, Henry W. Baker, and Roby Furley Davis.


Tune: "Divinum mysterium," from Piæ cantiones, 1582.

About the Authors

Aurelius Prudentius (348–413) was, according to the Psalter Hymnal Handbook, "the greatest Christian poet of his time." At fifty-seven, he gave up money, power, and influence for a monk's life. All his writings, including theological and apologetic ones, were in poetry.

John Mason Neale (1818–1866) was born into an evangelical home, but had Catholic tendencies. He was inspired to write original hymns by a dislike for those of Isaac Watts, but is better known today for his approachable translations of Latin and Greek hymns. His six-stanza version of this hymn was published in his Hymnal Noted.

Henry Williams Baker (1821–1877) was editor of Hymns Ancient and Modern, in which all but three of his hymns and translations appeared; Dr. Julian compares his simple hymnody to Henry F. Lyte's. His last words are said to have been from his rendition of Psalm 23: "Perverse and foolish, oft I strayed, / But yet in love He sought me, / And on His Shoulder gently laid, / And home, rejoicing, brought me." He translated the stanzas of this hymn that Dr. Neale did not.

Roby Furley Davis (1866–1937) was assistant master at Weymouth College and a scholar of the works of Tacitus. He translated this hymn anew for The English Hymnal of 1906.

Thoughts

This is one of those great hymns dealing with the Incarnation. I don't really know what to say beyond that, except that I find it a shame that most hymnals I have seen omit the third verse. The Incarnation, after all, finds its meaning in the context of redemption. Generally, I do not like to mix and match different translations, but here I felt that both beauty, accuracy to the original, and theological precision would be better served by a composite translation.

There is some debate about the tune. I believe it is generally conceded that the duple meter version (in this case, basically all quarter notes so that every note gets equal stress, as in this MIDI) is not the original form as seen in Piæ Cantiones. Wikipedia (s.v. "Of the Father's Heart Begotten") says that Charles Winfred Douglas fixed this, but the only version of his I can find does not do so, nor does it include harmony, that being copyrighted. I have hence endeavored in the clip above to render it from the original chant as best I could.

In terms of a recording, I recommend the rendition in Noël! A Selection of Carols and Anthems by The Bach Choir; you can find it on iTunes or Amazon (MP3 only).

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