Moving on liturgically through the Church year, CWB II comes to songs for Epiphany.
This is from a c4th latin original by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius, translated by Edward Caswell c18. It is set to STUTTGART.
The text has several variants – those below are the ones in CWB II. Hymnary has all the details.
I had a crack at refining my lousy backing for STUTTGART.
Earth has many a noble city;
Bethlehem, alone excels;
From it came the Lord from Heaven
Came to rule His Israel.Fairer than the sun at morning
Was the star that told His birth,
To the world its God announcing
Seen in human form on earth.Eastern sages at His cradle
Make off’rings rich and rare;
See them give, in deep devotion,
Gold and frankincense and myrrh.Sacred gifts of mystic meaning:
Frankincense does God disclose,
Gold the King of kings proclaiming,
Myrrh His sepulchre foreshows.Jesus, whom the Gentiles worshipped
At Thy glad Epiphany,
Now to you, with God the Father
And the Spirit, glory be.
This is the same music as in CWB II.