Il testo, che si compone di sei (o sette) strofe inframezzate dal ritornello[1][4], è di carattere religioso e parla degli eventi connessi alla Nascita di Gesù, che viene collocata in uno scenario innevato[1][4]:
See, amid the winter's snow,
Born for us on Earth below,
See, the tender Lamb appears,
Promised from eternal years.
Ritornello:
Hail, thou ever blessed morn,
Hail redemption's happy dawn,
Sing through all Jerusalem,
Christ is born in Bethlehem.
Lo, within a manger lies
He who built the starry skies;
He who, throned in height sublime,
Sits among the cherubim.
Ritornello
Say, ye holy shepherds,say,
What your joyful news today;
Wherefore have ye left your sheep
On the lonely mountain steep?
Ritornello
"As we watched at dead of night,
Lo, we saw a wondrous light:
Angels singing 'Peace On Earth'
Told us of the Saviour's birth."
Ritornello
Sacred Infant, all divine,
What a tender love was Thine,
Thus to come from highest bliss
Down to such a world as this.
Ritornello
Teach, O teach us, Holy Child,
By Thy face so meek and mild,
Teach us to resemble Thee,
In Thy sweet humility.
Ritornello
Versioni
Tra i vari artisti che hanno inciso il brano, figurano, tra gli altri (in ordine alfabetico):
^ Bowler, Gerry, Dizionario universale del Natale [The World Encyclopedia of Christmas], ed. italiana a cura di C. Corvino ed E. Petoia, Newton & Compton, Roma, 2003, p. 309
