God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen

God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen or God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen is a traditional English Christmas carol.

History

Although as time of origin occasionally the 15th century is believed to text and melody can demonstrate for the first time in the 18th century. With the Good, worn melody in a minor key, there was a backlash of the rural population to the rather gloomy hymns of the church. The text author knew how to make the meaning of the birth and life of Jesus Christ clearly. The lyrics refers to the announcement of the birth to the shepherds (Luke 2.8 to 20 EU). The song is preparing places comprehension problems today.

The song was first published in 1833 in the fully edited by William B. Sandys collection of Christmas carols Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern. Already in 1823, William Hone in his Ancient Mysteries Described the first lines of the song under the heading "List of Christmas carols now Annually printed ".

In his 1843 published Christmas story A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens quotes the song.

Many artists from diverse genres have produced recordings of this song. Even parodies of the song can be found among others in the TV series Dr. House or in the novel Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

In parodic intention Ernest Hemingway used the song title as the title of a short story ( German title: God rest ye blessed, gentlemen ), which is about the Christian fundamentalist motivated self-mutilation of a young man.

Lyrics

There's this song in various versions (text and melody ), they have in various regions of England has a long tradition. The most widespread is the collection of songs published in the Carols for Choirs by Oxford University Press version.

1 God rest you merry, gentlemen, Let nothing you dismay, For Jesus Christ our Saviour Was born upon this day, To save us all from Satan's power When we were gone astray: O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy, O tidings of comfort and joy. 2 In Bethlehem, in Israel, This blessed Babe was born, And laid within a manger Upon this blessed morn, The Which His Mother Mary Did nothing take in scorn: O tidings ... 3.From God our heavenly Father A blessed angel came, And unto Certain shepherds Brought tidings of the same, How did in Bethlehem was born The Son of God by name: O tidings ... 4 The shepherds at those tidings Rejoiced much in mind, And left Their flocks a- feeding In tempest, storm and wind, And went to Bethlehem straightway, This blessed Babe to find: O tidings ... 5 But When to Bethlehem They Came, Whereat this Infant lay, They found Him in a manger, Where oxen feed on hay; His mother Mary kneeling, Unto the Lord did pray: O tidings ... 6 Now to the Lord sing praises, All you within this place, And with true love and brotherhood Each other now embrace; This holy tide of Christmas All others doth deface: O tidings ...

In particular, the first line of the song has now been widely misunderstood. This also goes with the wrong placement of the comma before the word merry. In particular, the words rest and merry now possess a different meaning. The first line is, therefore, within the meaning of God Make You Mighty, Gentlemen ( dt, 'May God make you strong [ fearless ] Gentlemen ') to read.