Sunday, November 29, 2015

Book Review: Silent Night

Silent Night. Joseph Mohr. Illustrated by Susan Jeffers. 1984/2003. Penguin. 32 pages. [Source: Bought]
Silent night, holy night.
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and child.
Holy infant, so tender and mild,
sleep in heavenly peace,
sleep in heavenly peace.
This one is a picture book adaptation of the Christmas carol--or hymn--"Silent Night." Included are the traditional first and second verses. Also included is the less familiar verse about the wise men. The verse about the wise men is not traditionally included in lyrics for the song. So it isn't even a traditional fourth verse! And versions of the song with more than three verses, don't have this verse either. I saw one adaptation with six verses--none of them about wise men!

I like this one. I love the song, of course. And it's nice to have a picture book adaptation of it with lovely illustrations. I just wish Jeffers had gone the traditional route and included the third verse of the song. I think the third verse of the song is the BEST AND MOST IMPORTANT.
Silent Night! Holy night!
Son of God, love's pure light,
Radiant beams from thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth!
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth!
I haven't decided if the lack of the third verse is enough of an annoyance to keep me from liking this one. The edition I have is from 1984. It was reprinted in 2003, but, I'm not sure if any changes were made to the book.

Hymnsite.com 
Hymns and Carols of Christmas
Hymnary.org
Various English Translations of Silent Night--most from nineteenth century
Cyber Hymnal
Silent Night Lost Verses

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

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