A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. (Isaiah 11:1)
There is a Flower
John Audelay
setting by John Rutter
There is a flow'r sprung of a tree,
The root thereof is callèd Jesse,
A flow'r of price;
There is none such in paradise.
This flow'r is fair and fresh of hue,
It fadeth never, but ever is new;
The blessed branch this flow'r on grew
Was Mary mild that bare Jesu,
A flow'r of grace;
Against all sorrow it is solace.
The seed hereof was Goddès sand,
That God himself sowed with his hand,
In Nazareth that holy land,
Amidst her arbour a maiden found;
This blessed flow'r
Sprang never but in Mary's bower.
When Gabriel this maid did meet
With 'Ave Maria' he did her greet;
Between them two this flow'r was set
And safe was kept, no man should wit,
Till on a day
In Bethlem it could spread and spray.
When that fair flow'r began to spread,
And his sweet blossom began to bed,
Then rich and poor of ev'ry land
They marvelled how this flow'r might spread,
Till kingès three
That blessed flower came to see.
Angels there came from heaven's tower,
To look upon this freshele flow'r,
How fair he was in his colour,
And how sweet in his savour,
And to behold
How such a flow'r might spring in gold.
There is a flow'r sprung of a tree,
The root thereof is callèd Jesse,
A flow'r of price;
There is none such in paradise.
There is a Flower
John Audelay
setting by John Rutter
There is a flow'r sprung of a tree,
The root thereof is callèd Jesse,
A flow'r of price;
There is none such in paradise.
This flow'r is fair and fresh of hue,
It fadeth never, but ever is new;
The blessed branch this flow'r on grew
Was Mary mild that bare Jesu,
A flow'r of grace;
Against all sorrow it is solace.
The seed hereof was Goddès sand,
That God himself sowed with his hand,
In Nazareth that holy land,
Amidst her arbour a maiden found;
This blessed flow'r
Sprang never but in Mary's bower.
When Gabriel this maid did meet
With 'Ave Maria' he did her greet;
Between them two this flow'r was set
And safe was kept, no man should wit,
Till on a day
In Bethlem it could spread and spray.
When that fair flow'r began to spread,
And his sweet blossom began to bed,
Then rich and poor of ev'ry land
They marvelled how this flow'r might spread,
Till kingès three
That blessed flower came to see.
Angels there came from heaven's tower,
To look upon this freshele flow'r,
How fair he was in his colour,
And how sweet in his savour,
And to behold
How such a flow'r might spring in gold.
There is a flow'r sprung of a tree,
The root thereof is callèd Jesse,
A flow'r of price;
There is none such in paradise.