Origins: Let all Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

Subject: Let all Mortal Flesh-French lyrics?
From: GUEST,Lisa M.
Date: 21 Nov 00 - 11:31 AM

hello! Here's a Christmas request. There's a very beautiful Christmas hymn called "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence." The tune for this is French. I was wondering if anyone knew the French lyrics? Thanks!! Lisa M.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Let all Mortal Flesh
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 21 Nov 00 - 12:40 PM

You want them in french??

Your best bet would be to try a french hymn book, but I've never come across it in french before... I can do them in English for you, but not just yet - need to get bratling from childminder.... snuck home early!

Good luck with it - you may need to just get the english and a french translator....

LTS

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Let all Mortal Flesh
From: MMario
Date: 21 Nov 00 - 12:48 PM

according to my sources (ie: I just read it on the web, but in a lot of places) the text of this is translated from the 4rth century Liturgy of St. James (latin) and the result set to the traditional french tune "Picardy" - - but relativly recently. 1906 I believe. I was unable to find anything regarding it being back-translated into french - or any words to the original folk song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Let all Mortal Flesh
From: GUEST,Lisa M.
Date: 21 Nov 00 - 05:47 PM

Thanks LTS and MMario for your information! I have a feeling that only the tune is French, and that somebody just put English words to it.

LM

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Let all Mortal Flesh
From: GUEST,Lisa M.
Date: 21 Nov 00 - 05:47 PM

Thanks LTS and MMario for your information! I have a feeling that only the tune is French, and that somebody just put English words to it.

LM

Subject: Lyr Add: JÉSUS-CHRIST S'HABILLE EN PAUVRE
From: Burke
Date: 21 Nov 00 - 06:35 PM

Found it, don't ask me how. It's at Chants populaires français. Number 8. You're on your own to figure out how the 2nd & later verses work.

JÉSUS-CHRIST S'HABILLE EN PAUVRE

1.
Jésus-Christ s'habille en pauvre:
Faites moi la charité!
Jésus-Christ s'habille en pauvre:
Faites moi la charité!
Des miettes de votre table
Je ferai bien mon dîner.

2.
— Les miettes de notre table,
Les chiens les mangeront bien.
Ils nous rapportent des lièvres
Et toi ne rapportes rien!

3.
— Madame, qu'-et' en fenêtre,
Faites-moi la charité!
— Ah! montez, montez, bon pauvre,
Un bon souper trouverez!

4.
Lorsque sa faim fut calmée,
Il demande à se coucher.
— Ah! montez, montez, bon pauvre,
Un bon lit frais trouverez!

5.
Et comme ils montaient les marches,
Trois anges les éclairaient :
—Ah! ne craignez rien, madame,
C'est la lune qui paraît!

6.
Dans trois jours vous serez morte,
En paradis vous irez;
Et votre mari, madame,
En enfer ira brûler!

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 1-Aug-02.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Let all Mortal Flesh
From: Burke
Date: 21 Nov 00 - 06:40 PM

Oops! Didn't realize there were more verses to mark up. If you can't figure the breaks out, follow the blue clicky thing.

This is not a French translation of Let all mortal flesh. I guess it's the origianal French words for the tune.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Let all Mortal Flesh
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 21 Nov 00 - 09:33 PM

For anybody's information, my Catholic "Breaking Bread" song book says that the text is the Liturgy of St James, 4th century, paraphrased by Gerard Moultrie, 1829-1885. So the tune is French but the words have no French connection.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Let all Mortal Flesh
From: kimmers
Date: 22 Nov 00 - 12:56 AM

My French is pretty minimal (I can read a menu) but I know the hymn in English pretty well; our rector loves it. The above French lyrics don't have much to do with the hymn that I am familiar with, but certainly may have been sung to the same tune.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Let all Mortal Flesh
From: GUEST,Dzechman
Date: 27 Oct 15 - 12:59 AM

Yes, the English words of Let All Mortal Flesh are a metrical English translation of the cherubic hymn from St. James liturgy (centuries old Greek, some bits from the Bible) by Moultrie (1864) NOT to the tune PICARDY nor any tune in particular as far as I can find. The tune is a French folk song and those French words (8-9 verses) have nothing to do with Let All Mortal Flesh (4 verses). The folk tune and Moultrie's English poem were married by Vaughan Williams in 1906 for the English Hymnal. There is no "original language" of LAMFKS to sing. The original Greek Cherubic Hymn would not fit the tune. If you'd like to sing (outside of worship) the French folk song, the texts can be found online if you search Jesus-Christ s'habille en pauvre. The only singable English translation I have found of the French folk song are just three of the verses translated by Walter Ehret for the International Book of Christmas Carols. I hope that helps clarify its complicated history.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Let all Mortal Flesh
From: BobL
Date: 27 Oct 15 - 03:57 AM

Lovely song - well, they both are. The French song is roughly along the same lines as "Dives and Lazarus" - is there an English equivalent?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Let all Mortal Flesh
From: GUEST,MM Teeter
Date: 10 Dec 20 - 01:29 AM

Here are the English words, from a Presbyterian Hymnal.

1 Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
and with fear and trembling stand;
ponder nothing earthly-minded,
for with blessing in his hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth,
Our full homage to demand.

2 King of kings, yet born of Mary,
as of old on earth he stood,
Lord of lords, in human vesture,
in the body and the blood,
he will give to all the faithful
his own self for heav'nly food.

3 Rank on rank the host of heaven
spreads its vanguard on the way,
as the Light of light descendeth
from the realms of endless day,
that the pow'rs of hell may vanish
as the darkness clears away.

4 At his feet the six-winged seraph,
cherubim, with sleepless eye,
veil their faces to the presence,
as with ceaseless voice they cry,
"Alleluia, alleluia,
alleluia, Lord Most High!"

This is just for reference because there are a lot of allusions to the English version but it isn't here.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Let all Mortal Flesh
From: Joe Offer
Date: 10 Dec 20 - 02:11 AM

Wikipedia has a good article on the song. I've never thought of it as a Christmas song, but I guess it could fit for Christmas. I've always thought of it as a Eucharistic hymn, and Wikipedia says it goes back to the Divine Liturgy of St. James in 275 AD or earlier. The post from Dzechman above is a pretty good summary of the Wikipedia article.
Hymnary.org refers to the song as "a lesser Christmas hymn." In my Roman Catholic tradition, it was sung as a Eucharistic hymn, not particularly a hymn for Christmas.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Origins: Let all Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
From: leeneia
Date: 11 Dec 20 - 11:53 AM

Verse 3, and even more so, Verse 4 remind me of the vision of God's "court" in the Book of Revelations.